tihvary  of  t:he  theological  ^eminarjp 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PURCHASED  BY  THE 
HAMILL  MISSIONARY  FUND 
BP    172     .S54 

Shedd,  William  Ambrose 
Islam  and  the  Oriental 
churches 


Islam  and  the  Oriental 
Churches 

Their  Historical  Relations 


Students'   Lectures  on  Missions 

Princeton   Theological  Seminary 

1902-J 


BY       • 
WILLIAM  AMBROSE  SHEDD,  M.  A., 

Missiottary    of  the    American  Presbperian    Church 
to  Persia 


PHILADELPHIA 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION 

AND  SABBATH-SCHOOL  WORK 

1904 


Copyright,  1904,  by 

THE   TRUSTEES   OF   THE 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION 
AND  SABBATH-SCHOOL  WORK 


Dedicated  to 

THE  MEMORY  OF 

BENJAMIN   WOODS  LABAREE 

WHO  MET  A  CRUEL  DEATH,  SALMAS,  PERSIA 
MARCH  NINTH,  MCMIV 

A  TRUE  FRIEND  AND  A  DEVOTED  MISSIONARY 
2nENA6MEN02 


Preface 

The  following  chapters  were  prepared  in 
response  to  an  invitation  from  the  faculty  of 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  to  fill  the 
Student  Lectureship  on  Missions.  They  were 
delivered  in  substantially  the  form  published 
here.  After  delivery  at  Princeton  they  were 
given  also  at  Auburn  Theological  Seminary, 
McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  Chicago 
Theological  Seminary,  and  the  Presbyterian 
Theological  Seminary  of  Kentucky.  The  kind 
reception  accorded  them  in  these  places  has 
encouraged  me  to  present  them  to  the  general 
public. 

I  am  greatly  indebted  to  the  following  libraries 
for  the  generous  loan  of  books  :  Case  Memorial 
Library  of  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  the 
Library  of  Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  and 
the  Foreign  Missions  Library  in  New  York. 

The  original  sources  consulted  have  been 
Syriac.  I  am  aware  that  an  exhaustive  treat- 
ment   of    the    subject    must   be   based    on    the 


iv  PREFACE 

accounts  of  the  Muhammadan  as  well  as  the 
Christian  writers.  So  far,  however,  as  the  evi- 
dence of  Christian  writers  mitigates  the  severity 
of  our  judgment  of  Muhammadan  rulers,  it  can 
surely  be  trusted ;  and  the  fact  is  that  the  princi- 
pal Syriac  writers  show  few  signs  of  bitterness 
toward  the  Arabs.  Moreover,  the  Arabic 
sources  have  been  used  by  writers  more  gen- 
erally than  the  Syriac  sources.  It  is,  perhaps, 
well  to  warn  the  reader  that  the  treatment  of  the 
subject  is  far  from  exhaustive  geographically  or 
chronologically.  In  particular  the  histories  of 
the  Christians  of  Egypt  and  of  those  under 
Osmanli  rule  illustrate  the  havoc  wrought  by  the 
principle  of  limited  toleration. 

A  word  as  to  that  vexed  subject,  oriental 
orthography.  I  have  tried  to  be  consistent  and 
scientific,  but  I  have  not  attempted  to  represent 
in  any  way  the  Semitic  guttural  'ain,  which  has 
no  equivalent  in  our  Western  tongues.  If  to 
some  readers  the  spelling  MuJiammad  appear 
pedantic,  it  must  be  urged  that  neither  of  the 
alternatives  Mahomet  or  Mohammed  is  uni- 
versally adopted  and  that  both  are  incorrect. 
William  Ambrose  Shedd. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction — Islam  and  the  Oriental  Churches 

Importance  of  the  Muhammadan  missionary 
problem.  Neglect  and  misunderstandings  of  the 
historical  relations  of  Christianity  and  Islam.  Im- 
portance of  studying  them.  Scope  of  the  present 
course  of  lectures I 

FIRST   LECTURE 

The  Influence  of  Christianity  on  Muhammad  and  on 
the  Beginnings  of  Islam 

The  personality  of  Muhammad  in  Islam.  Influ- 
ences that  prepared  for  Islam.  Jewish  and  Christian 
influences ;  character,  extent,  evidence  in  Arab  poetry. 
Christian  influences  that  affected  Muhammad  him- 
self. Evidence  of  personal  contact  with  Christianity, 
references  to  Christianity  in  the  Quran,  doctrmal  in- 
fluences, relation  to  Christianity  as  claimed  by  Mu- 
hammad. Bearing  of  these  facts  on  the  estimate  of 
Muhammad's  character.  Relation  to  the  Muham- 
madan controversy.  Can  Islam  lead  to  Christianity  ? 
The  failure  and  fault  of  the  church ir 


SECOND  LECTURE 

The  Relation  of  Christianity  to  the  Development  of 
Muslim  Theology 

Conditions  under  which  Muslim  and  Christian 
theology  developed.  Oriental  Christianity.  Its 
division,  extent,  character,  theological  differences  and 
agreements.  Interchange  of  religious  ideas  between 
Muslims  and  others.  Christian  influence  in  the  doc- 
trine of  the  "  foundations  "  of  Islam.  The  eternal 
Quran,  legendary  history  in  the  traditions,  the  doc- 


vi  CONTENTS 

trine  of  agreement.  Christian  influence  on  the 
Muslim  doctrine  of  God  and  the  apostolate.  Chris- 
tian influence  on  the  sects  of  Islam.  Slightness  of 
Muslim  influence  on  Christianity,  and  limits  of  Chris- 
tian influence  on  Islam.  Can  Islam  meet  modern 
conditions  ? 45 

THIRD  LECTURE 

The   Relation  of  Muhammadan    Government  to  the 
Oriental  Churches 

General  outline  and  periods  of  the  history  A.  D., 
600-1500.  Toleration,  in  the  strict  sense,  the  char- 
acteristic of  the  policy  of  Islam  to  other  religions. 
The  origin  of  the  policy.  Policies  of  the  eastern 
Empire  and  of  Persia.  Practice  of  Muhammad. 
The  history  of  the  policy.  The  constitution  of  Umar, 
Arabian  Christianity,  the  attitude  of  the  Christians  to 
the  Arab  conquest,  maintenance  of  the  status  quo, 
Christianity  under  the  Khalifas,  conditions  under  the 
Mongols,  fanatical  reaction.  The  effect  on  the 
churches.  Spiritual  eff'ect  of  limiting  activity,  eff^ect 
of  governmental  influence  in  ecclesiastical  aff"airs. 
Dangers  of  toleration.  Compromise  a  characteristic 
of  Islam 91 

FOURTH  LECTURE 

The  Expansion  of  the  Faiths 

Difficulty  of  the  subject.  Some  conditions  of  the 
expansion.  Character  of  the  Muslim  propaganda. 
Divisions  of  the  subject.  Converts  to  Christianity 
from  Islam  and  Christian  apologies.  The  Syriac- 
speaking  peoples.  Failure  of  Islam  to  gain  them, 
proselytes  from  them  to  Islam.  The  Iranians.  Ex- 
tent of  Christianity  among  them,  extension  after  rise 
of  Islam,  means  of  extension,  Nestorian  monasticism 
and  monastic  missions,  failure  of  Christianity  to  win 
the  Iranians,  Muslim  propaganda  and  success.  The 
Turks  and  Mongols.  Christianity  in  China,  Uighurs, 
Keraits,  means  of  extension,  character  of  the  Chris- 
tians, failure  of  Christianity,  propaganda  and  success 
of  Islam.  The  relation  of  Muslim  missions  to  polit- 
ical movements.  Estimate  of  the  Nestorian  missions. 
Religious  and  national  movements 139 


CONTENTS  vii 

FIFTH  LECTURE 

The  Downfall  of  Christianity  in  the  Common  Ruin 

Tragic  character  of  the  course  of  the  history  and 
the  relation  of  the  Christians  to  it.  Geographical  dis- 
tribution of  the  Christians  and  the  fortunes  of  the 
centers  of  Christian  population.  Service  of  faith  in 
the  dark  days 189 

SIXTH  LECTURE 

The    Light   of  the  Past  on  the  Future  Missionary 
Conflict 

Incentives  from  the  failures  of  the  past.  Place  of 
the  oriental  churches.  The  missionary  character  of 
the  Syrian  churches.  Our  duty  to  them.  The 
Christianity  that  can  conquer.  Its  methods,  its  theo- 
logical character,  its  vital  relation  to  Christ   ....     205 

APPENDIXES 227 


Introduction 


Importance  of  the  Muhammadan  missionary  problem.  Neg- 
lect and  misunderstandings  of  the  historical  relations  of  Chris- 
tianity and  Islam.  Importance  of  studying  them.  Scope  of 
the  present  course  of  lectures. 


Islam  and  the  Oriental  Churches 


INTRODUCTION 


The  problem  of  Islam  is  so  vast  and  so  com- 
plex and,  furthermore,  is  of  such  vital  interest  to 
all  who  desire  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  on  earth,  that  no  apology  is  required  for 
making  it  the  subject  of  a  course  of  lectures  on 
missions.  To  say  that  the  most  elaborate  inves- 
tigation ever  made  into  the  statistics  of  Islam 
resulted  in  the  conclusion  that  the  Muhamma- 
dans  number  two  hundred  and  sixty  millions,  or 
over  fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  the 
globe,  is  dealing  in  figures  too  large  to  be  defi- 
nitely significant  to  the  mind.' 

The  geographical  distribution  will  be  clearer 
if  we  remember  that  there  are  large  bodies  of 
Muhammadans  in  every  country  in  Asia, — Siam, 
Japan,  and  Korea  excepted, — that  among  the 
Malays  there  are  thirty  millions  of  this  faith,  and 

*  Dr.  H.  Jansen,  Verbreitiaig  des  /slants,  Berlin,  1897. 
3 


4        ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

that  about  three  eighths  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Africa  are  followers  of  the  Prophet  of  Arabia. 
As  various  as  the  races  represented  are  the  de- 
grees of  culture,  from  the  savage  just  emerged 
from  heathenism  to  the  most  refined  philosoph- 
ical pantheist,  yet  all  profess  reverence  to  the 
same  book  and  the  same  name. 

To  the  follower  of  Christ  and  especially  to 
the  student  of  Christian  history  Islam  possesses 
a  melancholy  interest  peculiar  to  it  among  the 
religions  of  the  world.  It  alone  can  claim  to 
have  met  and  vanquished  Christianity.  Islam 
arose  in  a  region  accessible  to  Christianity,  for 
Mecca  is  only  eight  hundred  miles  from  Jeru- 
salem over  a  road  traveled  by  Muhammad  in  his 
youth.  It  arose  at  a  time  when  Christianity 
should  have  evangelized  Arabia,  for  in  the  six 
centuries  by  which  the  gospel  of  Christ  preceded 
the  creed  of  Muhammad,  Christianity  had  spread 
to  the  borders  of  the  Pacific,  Indian,  and  Atlantic 
Oceans ;  had  revolutionized  the  greatest  empire 
known  to  ancient  history,  and  had  created  a  vast 
literature  and  a  new  learning.  Why  did  it  lose 
in  Asia?  What  were  the  causes  of  defeat? 
Why  was  it  possible  for  Muhammad  to  arise  in 
that  age  of  the  world  ?     Why  did  his  religion 


INTRODUCTION  5 

take  root  and  flourish  in  lands  sacred  in  Chris- 
tian history?  To  ask  and  seek  an  answer  to 
these  and  other  such  questions  is  the  duty  of  the 
apologist,  who  defends  the  faith.  The  mission- 
ary should  seek,  in  this  dark  and  well-nigh  for- 
gotten past,  light  on  the  present  battle  in  the 
world-wide  field. 

Another  reason  that  gives  the  study  of  this 
department  of  history  a  special  claim  is  that  it 
has  been  neglected  or  misunderstood.  Church 
history  has  very  little  to  say  on  the  subject,  and 
the  statements  in  church  histories  and  in  mis- 
sionary literature  are  often  far  wide  of  the  truth. 
One  error  is  to  enroll  the  eastern  church  en 
masse  in  the  list  of  martyrs,  as  in  the  following 
sentence  from  the  latest  English  history  of  eastern 
Christianity :  "  For  long  years  past  the  existence 
of  the  eastern  church  has  been  one  continued 
martyrdom."  ^  Similarly,  Neale  says  :  "  The 
empire  of  the  Caesars  was  vanquished  (by  the 
Arabs),  and  limited,  and  contracted  :  the  spiritual 
dominion  of  the  eastern  church  stooped  not  to 
the  victor.  Many  a  noble  victory  was  won  for 
Christ :    many    a    glorious    athlete    was   sent  to 

1  See  Hoare's  Eighteen  Centuries  of  the  Orthodox  Greek 
Church. 


6         ISLAM  AND   THE   ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

martyrdom.  The  church  rode  out  the  storm : 
as  httle  did  she  quail  before  the  successive  billows 
of  devastation  that  poured  in  around  her,"'  An 
often  and  opposite  error  cannot  be  expressed 
more  tersely  than  in  the  following  sentences 
from  the  Report  of  the  Ecumenical  Missioiiary 
Conference  in  New  York :  "  When  Muhammad 
arose,  Christianity  was  so  dead  that  it  was  putrid, 
Muhammadanism  crushed  it  in  its  mailed  hand 
as  if  it  had  been  a  Dead  Sea  apple."  ^ 

Another  misunderstanding  of  history  is  that 
the  Arab  conquest  of  western  Asia  was  a  crisis 
of  fire  and  blood  in  which  multitudes  were 
forced  to  accept  Islam  at  the  point  of  the  sword. 
It  would  probably  have  been  better  for  Chris- 
tianity, if  this  had  been  the  case ;  but  it  was  not. 
Again,  in  explaining  the  causes  of  the  greater 
comparative  success  of  Islam  in  this  or  former 
ages  it  is  easy  to  assign  reasons  that,  if  true,  are 
exceedingly  damaging  to  the  Christian  cause. 
The  following  from  a  volume  published  by  a 
great  Christian  publishing  society  is  an  extreme 
illustration.  Speaking  of  the  success  of  Islam 
in  west   Africa   the  author  remarks,  "  Given  a 

•  Holy  Eastern  Church,  Vol.  I,  p.  5. 
2  Report,  Vol.  I,  p.  436. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

climate  in  which  a  European  can  hve,  and  a 
strong  neutral  government,  Christianity  would 
fear  no  comparison,  in  matter  of  results,  with 
Islam  or  any  other  creed."  ^  And,  forsooth,  are 
a  temperate  climate  and  the  protection  of  a  civi- 
lized government  necessary  conditions  to  the 
successful  spread  of  the  rehgion  of  Christ?  It 
is  an  admission  of  failure  in  fundamental  char- 
acter worse  than  a  thousand  defeats  in  detail. 

Other  and  cogent  reasons  can  be  given  for  the 
missionary  study  of  the  historical  relations  of 
these  great  historical  faiths.  Islam  has  been  in 
contact  with  Christianity  throughout  its  whole 
history,  and  the  relation  has  not  been,  for  the 
most  part,  that  of  master  to  slave  or  of  conqueror 
to  captive.  Force  has  played  a  smaller  part  than 
is  usually  supposed.  The  church  has  had  oppor- 
tunities and  has  gained  victories,  too,  that  are 
forgotten  by  most.  In  other  words  there  is  a 
history  to  study,  and  one  that  throws  light  both 
on  the  character,  the  religions,  and  on  our  pres- 
fent-day  conflict,  which  has  little  more  than 
begun. 

The  study  has  much  to  teach  as  to  the  char- 
acter of  Islam.     That  religion  claims  to  be  a 

*  Haines,  Islam  as  a  Missionary  Religion,  S.  P.  C.  K.,  p.  207. 


8        ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL    CHUECHES 

daughter  of  Christianity,  or  its  younger  sister, 
and  there  are  some  outside  Muhammadan  ranks 
who  maintain  the  rightfulness  of  this  claim. 
What  is  the  testimony  of  history  ?  On  historical 
subjects  most  people  have  to  content  themselves 
with  general  conceptions  and  ideas  and  cannot 
expect  to  have  detailed  knowledge,  and  this  is 
true  of  the  subject  before  us.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary that  every  missionary  worker,  even,  should 
have  a  philosophical  grasp  of  the  religion  he  or 
she  meets,  although  it  is  absolutely  essential  that 
some  missionaries  should  have  a  sympathetic  and 
philosophical  conception  of  its  system  of  be- 
lief. Christianity  takes  hold  of  the  masses,  and 
the  masses  are  ignorant  folk,  especially  when, 
as  in  Muhammadan  lands,  women  are  kept  in  the 
ignorance  without  the  innocence  of  childhood. 
But  it  is  vastly  important  that  the  general  con- 
ceptions of  that  religion  should  be  true,  and  espe- 
cially so  with  the  missionary,  for  such  ideas  enter 
unconsciously  into  his  whole  attitude  and  color 
all  his  thought. 

What  has  been  said  may  appear  presumptuous ; 
and  lest  the  performance  be  disproportionate  to 
the  promise,  it  will  be  well  at  once  to  define  the 
limits  of  the  subject.     Such  limits  are  suggested 


INTRODUCTION  9 

by  the  time  that  can  be  given  to  such  a  course 
of  lectures  and  are  made  still  more  imperative 
by  the  personal  limitations  of  the  lecturer,  as  re- 
gards both  equipment  and  opportunity.  We  will 
discuss  the  historical  relations  of  the  faiths,  not  their 
philosophical  and  moral  effects,  except  inciden- 
tally. Geographically  we  will  limit  ourselves  for 
the  most  part  not  merely  to  western  Asia,  but  to  a 
portion  of  that  region,  and  ecclesiastically  to  the 
Nestorian  and  Jacobite  churches.  Asia  Minor 
and  the  long  contest  in  it  as  well  as  in  southeast- 
ern Europe ;  Africa,  where  Christianity  has  a 
checkered  history  under  Muslim  rule;  Spain, 
where  the  faiths  came  into  close  contact,  and  the 
crusades, — all  are  largely  excluded  from  our  view. 
It  is  believed  that  with  these  limits  the  field 
chosen  is  one  of  peculiar  importance.  It  ex- 
hibits Islam  in  the  region  where  it  developed, 
was  dominant,  and  was  most  free  to  work  out  its 
own  destiny.  It  presents  both  religions  where 
political  rivalries  have  been  least  prominent  and 
where  missionary  activity  has  been  most  marked. 
It  has  seemed  best  to  adopt  an  arrangement 
which  is  not  chronological  but  which  will,  it  is 
hoped,  nevertheless  indicate  to  some  degree  the 
onward   march    of  history.     Perhaps   it  is  well 


10      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

to  add  that  all  is  written  from  the  missionary's 
point  of  view,  in  the  full  conviction  that  no 
destiny  for  Islam  and  no  Submission  (for  that 
is  the  meaning  of  the  word)  can  be  so  full  of 
hope  and  blessedness  as  the  acknowledgment 
of  the  supreme  Lordship  of  Jesus  Christ. 


First   Lecture 

THE    INFLUENCE    OF     CHRISTIANITY 

ON  MUHAMMAD  AND  ON  THE 

BEGINNINGS  OF  ISLAM 


The  personality  of  Muhammad  in  Islam.  Influences  that 
prepared  for  Islam.  Jewish  and  Christian  influences,  character, 
extent,  evidence  in  Arab  poetry.  Christian  influences  that 
affected  Muhammad  himself  Evidence  of  personal  contact 
with  Christianity,  references  to  Christianity  in  the  Quran, 
doctrinal  influences,  relation  to  Christianity  as  claimed  by 
Muhammad.  Bearing  of  these  facts  on  the  estimate  of  Muham- 
mad's character.  Relation  to  the  Muhammadan  controversy. 
Can  Islam  lead  to  Christianity  ?  The  failure  and  fault  of  the 
church. 


First   Lecture 

THE    INFLUENCE    OF     CHRISTIANITY 

ON  MUHAMMAD  AND  ON  THE 

BEGINNINGS  OF  ISLAM 

It  has  been  remarked  that  in  Islam  trivial 
things  have  been  the  occasion  of  far-reaching 
results.  For  example,  the  vicissitudes  in  the 
family  life  of  the  Prophet  lie  at  the  basis  of  the 
legislation  in  the  Quran  that  regulates  the  status 
of  woman  for  Muslims  in  all  ages.  The  reason 
for  this  is  that  the  personality  of  Muhammad 
dominates  the  religion  as  his  personal  needs  and 
whims  in  large  measure  regulated  the  revelations 
of  the  Quran.  The  traditions  occupy  themselves 
with  his  words  and  his  deeds,  the  most  passing 
remarks  and  the  most  trivial  acts.  It  is  said 
that  the  great  Umar  looked  at  the  black  stone  in 
Mecca  and  said  :  "  By  God,  I  know  that  thou  art 
only  a  stone  and  canst  grant  no  benefit,  canst  do 
no  harm.  If  I  had  not  known  that  the  Prophet 
kissed  thee,  I  would  not  have  done  so,  but  on 
account  of  that  I  do  it."  The  following  refers 
13 


14      ISLA3I  AND    THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

to  Ibn  Hanbal,  one  of  the  masters  in  law  and 
theology.  "  It  is  said  this  great  traditionist 
would  not  even  eat  watermelons,  because,  al- 
though he  knew  the  Prophet  ate  them,  he  could 
not  learn  whether  he  ate  them  with  or  without 
the  rind,  or  whether  he  broke,  bit,  or  cut,  them  ; 
and  he  forbade  a  woman,  who  questioned  him  as 
to  the  propriety  of  the  act,  to  spin  by  the  light 
of  the  torches  passing  in  the  street  by  night,  be- 
cause the  Prophet  had  not  mentioned  that  it  was 
lawful  to  do  so."  ^ 

These  people  were  not  imbecile,  though  to  us 
their  conduct  may  be  incomprehensible.  It  was 
based  on  a  conception  of  religion  radically  dif- 
ferent from  ours  and  on  a  profound  faith  in  the 
absolute  inspiration  of  Muhammad.  Their  ideal 
was  to  have  the  details  of  life  dominated  by  the 
example  of  Muhammad,  and  hence  their  minute 
biographical  interest  in  his  life  was  religious  and 
not  historical.  This  aspect  of  Islam  is  brought 
out  clearly  by  Kuenen  in  his  "  Hibbert  Lec- 
tures "  in  which  he  says :  "  As  for  Muhammad, 
we  can  resolve  him  into  his  factors,  so  to  speak, 
and  thus  explain  him ;  but  we  cannot  explain 
Islam  without  him.  If  I  might  for  a  moment 
'  Hughes,  Dictionary  of  Islam,  s.  v.  Tradition. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  15 

separate  those  elements  that  in  reahty  never  ap- 
pear except  in  combination,  I  should  say  :  Islam 
is  in  a  high  degree  and  far  more  than  most  other 
religions,  the  product  not  of  the  time  or  of  the 
people,  but  of  the  personality  of  its  founder." ' 
It  is  evident  from  all  this  that  our  first  task 
should  be  to  inquire  into  the  personal  relation  of 
Muhammad  to  Christianity  and  into  the  impress 
of  that  personal  relation  on  the  reHgion.  In 
order  to  understand  these  we  must  have  as  clear 
an  idea  as  possible  of  the  relation  of  his  people 
and  generation  to  Christianity. 

Muhammad  came  in  the  fullness  of  time.  He 
reaped  a  quick  and  rich  harvest  because  the 
ground  had  been  made  ready  and  the  seed  sown. 
The  forces  that  prepared  Arabia  for  revolution 
were  Jewish  and  Christian  in  origin,  though  it  is 
doubtful  just  what  form  they  took  and  how  much 
is  due  to  one  or  the  other  of  the  older  faiths. 

There  was  no  Jewish  community  in  Mecca, 
the  birthplace  and  home  of  Muhammad,  but 
north  along  the  road  to  Syria  there  were  Jewish 
colonies  in  Yathrib  (now  Medina),  where  Muham- 
mad lived  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life,  and  in 
Taima,  Khaibar,  and  Fadak.  South  of  Mecca 
'  Natural  Religions  and  Universal  Religions,  p.  23. 


16      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

in  Yaman,  opposite  the  coast  of  Abyssinia,  were 
large  numbers  of  Jews.  Besides  the  native 
Hebrews  there  were  Arab  converts  to  Judaism, 
assimilated  to  the  Jews  in  customs  and  tribal  life 
and  so  separated  from  their  own  people.  The 
Jews  of  Arabia  were  engaged  in  agriculture,  trade, 
and  manufactures,  and  were  an  established  and 
powerful  element  in  society.  The  following  de- 
scription from  Deutsch  may  be  colored  with 
patriotic  enthusiasm,  but  the  influence  of  Judaism 
in  preparing  Arabia  for  Islam  is  unquestioned. 
"  Acquainted, "  he  says,  "  with  the  Halachah  and 
Haggadha,  they  seemed,  under  the  peculiar  story- 
loving  influence  of  their  countrymen,  to  have 
cultivated  the  latter  with  all  its  gorgeous  hues 
and  colors.  Valiant  with  the  sword,  which  they 
not  rarely  turned  against  their  own  kinsmen, 
they  never  omitted  the  fulfillment  of  their  great- 
est religious  duty — the  release  of  their  captives, 
though  these  might  be  their  adversaries ;  and 
further,  like  their  fathers  from  of  old,  they  kept 
the  Sabbath  holy  even  in  war,  though  the  pro- 
hibition had  been  repealed.  They  waited  for  the 
Messiah,  and  they  turned  their  faces  toward 
Jerusalem.  They  fasted,  they  prayed,  and  they 
scattered  round  them  the  seeds  of  such  high  cul- 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  17 

ture  as  was  contained  in  their  literature.  And 
Arabia  called  them  the  people  of  the  '  Book ' ; 
even  as  Hegel  has  called  them  the  people  of  the 
'  Geist.'  These  seeds,  though  some  fell  on 
stones,  and  some  on  the  desert  sand,  had  borne 
fruit  a  thousandfold."  The  eloquent  author  goes 
on  to  mention  specific  evidences  of  Jewish  in- 
fluence, in  the  calendar,  in  the  religious  rites  of 
the  Kaaba  and  the  well  of  Zemzem,  in  the  ven- 
eration of  Ishmael,  and  in  the  remains  of  Jewish 
Arab  poets.  The  Quran  is  full  of  evidence  of 
Jewish  influence,  especially  in  the  legends  it  con- 
tains ;  and  above  all  Judaism  with  Christianity- 
prepared  hearts  to  echo  the  great  cry  of  Muham- 
mad, "  No  god  but  Allah."  ^ 

Christianity  entered  Arabia  from  three  distinct 
geographical  sources.  The  first  was  Palestine 
and  Syria,  whence  Christianity  went  into  Arabia 
Petrsea  and  the  region  east  of  the  Jordan,  and 
thence  farther  into  the  desert.  Bostra,  east  of  the 
Jordan,  was  for  centuries  the  seat  of  a  bishopric, 
as  was  Ayla,  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Akaba, 
in  the  Prophet's  time.  The  Christian  chieftain- 
kings  of  Ghassan,  farther  north  and  tributary  to 

'  Remains  of  Emmanuel  Deulsch,  Islam,  New  York  Ed.,  p. 
92. 


18      ISLAM  AND   THE  OBIENTAL   CHURCHES 

the  Roman  power,  have  a  place  in  the  ecclesias- 
tical histories  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries. 
From  early  times  the  desert  regions  adjoining 
Syria  and  Palestine  were  the  haunts  of  the  her- 
mits, most  famous  among  whom  is  St.  Simon 
Stylites,  who  is  credited  with  the  conversion  of 
many  Arabs  to  Christianity.  Wellhausen  says, 
"  The  Rahib  keeping  shy  of  men  in  his  lonely 
cell,  with  his  lamp,  which  lights  caravans  by 
night  is  a  popular  figure  in  Arabic  poetry."  ^ 
The  second  source  was  Mesopotamia  and  Baby- 
lonia, and  here  Christianity  made  a  center  at 
Hira,  near  the  Euphrates,  with  many  adherents 
along  the  coast  and  on  the  islands  of  the  Persian 
Gulf,  and  extended  south  to  the  borders  of 
Yaman.  Of  these  we  read  in  Nestorian  history. 
From  these  two  sources  Christian  influences  had 
extended  so  generally  in  northern  Arabia  that 
we  may  accept /the  statement  that  "  if  Islam  had 
not  intervened,  all  northern  Arabia  from  the 
Red  Sea  to  the  Persian  Gulf  would  shortly  have 
been  Christian." '^ 

The  third  source  of  Christian  influence  was 
Africa,  and  especially  Abyssinia,  with  which  the 

•  Wellhausen,  Skizzen  und  Vorarbeiteti,  III,  p.  200. 
»/<J.,  p.  199. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  19 

Himyarite  Christians  in  Yaman  were  closely 
connected.  These  last  were  so  numerous  as  to 
be  a  formidable  political  power  and  were  sup- 
ported by  the  Abyssinians.  In  the  century  be- 
fore the  rise  of  Islam,  sanguinary  conflicts  took 
place  between  the  Jews  and  Christians  of  Yaman 
for  the  supremacy,  conflicts  that  gave  rise  to  the 
Christian  history  of  the  Himyarites  who  endured 
martyrdom  at  the  hands  of  the  Jews.  The  at- 
tempt of  the  Christian  viceroy  of  Abyssinia  to 
take  Mecca  with  the  purpose  of  destroying  the 
Kaaba,  which  was  frustrated  by  some  sudden 
calamity,  supposedly  in  the  year  of  Muhammad's 
birth,  is  celebrated  in  the  Sura  of  the  Elephant : 
"  Hast  thou  not  seen  what  thy  Lord  did  with  the 
fellows  of  the  elephant  ?  Did  he  not  make  their 
strategem  lead  them  astray,  and  send  on  them 
birds  in  flocks,  to  throw  down  on  them  stones  of 
baked  clay,  and  make  them  like  blades  of  her- 
bage eaten  down  ?  " 

Christian  influence  was  least  strong  in  Central 
Arabia  and  in  the  Hijaz,  the  region  near  the  Red 
Sea  including  Mecca ;  but  even  here  there  were 
Christian  influences.  Slaves  were  not  infre- 
quently Christian  captives,  the  Arabs  made  trad- 
ing journeys  to  Syria  and  elsewhere,  and  traders 


20      ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

from  outside  passed  through  the  country.  Says 
an  Arab  poet :  "  Whence  has  Al  Asha  his  Chris- 
tian ideas  ?  From  the  wine-dealers  of  Hira  of 
whom  he  bought  his  wine ;  they  brought  them 
to  him."  1 

Ecclesiastically  these  influences  were  very 
largely  either  Nestorian  or  Monophysite,  and  to 
a  very  small  extent  probably  of  the  Orthodox 
Greek  Church.  The  Christianity  of  Syria  was 
largely,  and  that  of  Egypt  and  Abyssinia  still 
more  prevailingly,  Monophysite.  The  rather  re- 
cently organized  Jacobite  Church  had  dioceses 
among  the  northern  Arabs,  while  there  were 
Nestorian  dioceses  at  Hira  on  the  Euphrates,  on 
the  Persian  Gulf,  and  in  Najran  in  Central  Arabia. 
Both  these  churches  were  identified  with  Aramaic 
culture  and  the  Syriac  language.  If  there  was 
any  Arabic  translation  of  the  Bible,  it  was  not  in 
general  use,  and  there  is  little  probability  that 
any  Christian  Arabic  literature  existed.  There 
was  also  a  large  and  indefinable  body  of  still  more 
heretical  Christianity.  The  Monophysite  move- 
ment in  the  century  before  Muhammad  had 
been  very  proHfic  in  minor  heresies,  among 
others  being  a  sect  of  tritheists  in  Mesopotamia, 

•  Wellhausen,  Skizzen  und  Vorarbeiten,  p.  200. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  21 

which  has  a  special  interest  as  furnishing  a  pos- 
sible source  for  Muhammad's  tritheistic  concep- 
tion of  Christianity.  The  numerous  hermits 
were  mainly  heretical. 

The  strange  survivals  to-day  in  Islam  of  all 
sorts  of  forgotten  sects  gives  one  an  idea  of  the 
possibilities  of  survivals  of  old  heresies  in  that 
time.  Two  Arabic  terms  found  in  the  Quran, 
which  have  always  been  puzzles,  very  likely  re- 
fer directly  to  such  Christians.  One  is  the  word 
Hanif,  which  has  been  referred  to  monotheistic 
seekers  after  more  light  and  so  forerunners  of 
Muhammad.  It  appears,  however,  to  have  been 
used  as  a  synonym  of  Rahib,  a  monk,  and  that 
the  Hanifs  were  so  called  because  of  their  rela- 
tion at  least  in  ascetic  practices  to  the  hermits. 
The  other  word  is  Sabaean,  frequently  used  in 
the  Quran  along  with  Jew  and  Christian  and  in 
contrast  to  idolater.  This  is  not  unlikely  a 
name  for  the  Elkasaites,  a  strange  Jewish-Chris- 
tian sect,  who  practiced  frequent  baptisms,  hence 
the  "  plungers  "  as  the  name  means.^  This  pe- 
culiarity would  account  for  the  first  Muslims  with 
their  frequent  ablutions  being  called  Sabaeans  by 

•  Wellhausen,  pp.  206-208.  Sell,  I/t'siorica/  Development  of 
the  Quran,  p.  65. 


22      ISLA3I  AND   THE   ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

the  Meccans.  In  brief",  the  Christianity  that 
reached  Arabia  was  heterogeneous  and  varied, 
made  up  of  conflicting  cults  and  doctrines,  yet  in 
part  of  a  definite  and  ascertainable  theological 
character. 

A  striking  proof  that  these  Christian  influences 
had  really  affected  Arab  hfe  is  found  in  the 
remnants  of  pre-Islamic  poetry.  Wellhausen, 
who  has  already  been  quoted,  after  mention- 
ing several  Christian  poets,  says :  "  In  general 
Christianity  had  its  silent  part  in  the  spiritual 
culture  of  the  Arabs  as  represented  in  poetry. 
In  general  also  through  the  channel  of  poetry 
with  culture  Christian  thought  and  sentiment 
had  been  infused  among  the  Arabs.  For 
example,  it  is  observable  in  the  sententious, 
moralizing  parts,  which  are  so  desired  at  the 
close  of  the  poems.  Even  such  specific  repre- 
sentations as  that  of  the  Heavenly  Book,  are 
not  unfamiliar  to  the  poets  and  are  used  by  them. 
The  idea  of  Allah  has  assuredly  not  grown  on  a 
purely  heathen  basis.  Besides  this,  the  unpeace- 
ful  introspection,  the  meditation  on  death,  the 
placing  value  on  the  life  of  the  individual  in- 
stead of  on  the  permanency  of  the  tribe,  which  we 
have  found  to  be  the  fact  at  least  in  the  case  of 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  23 

single  prominent  men,  point  to  a  preparation 
through  Christian  influence."  ^  Such  influences 
would  go  far  beyond  the  limits  of  specific 
knowledge  of  Christian  doctrine  and  would  pre- 
pare the  way  for  changes  which  only  a  stronger 
force  could  actually  bring  to  pass. 

It  seems  that  the  above  facts  are  enough  to 
warrant  the  conclusions  that  the  people  were 
prepared  for  Islam  by  Christian  influences,  and 
also  that  Muhammad  himself  must  have  had 
some  general  knowledge  of  Christianity,  and 
that  without  presupposing  any  special  inquiry  on 
his  part.  Furthermore,  we  may  conclude  that 
opportunities  to  get  considerable  specific  knowl- 
edge of  that  religion  were  within  his  reach.  It 
is  a  suggestive  tradition  that  tells  of  the  four 
Meccans,  friends  of  Muhammad,  who,  renounc- 
ing idolatry,  went  out  to  seek  for  the  pure  faith 
of  Abraham.  Three  of  the  four  became  Chris- 
tian, one  of  them  ending  his  life  in  Mecca,  one 
in  the  dominions  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  third  in 
Abyssinia,  whither  he  had  fled  after  having  ac- 
cepted Muhammad's  prophetic  claims.  He  used 
to  tell  his  companions  in  exile  that  he  had  found 

'  Wellhausen,  p.  203.  Lyall,  Ancient  Arabian  Poetry,  xxx. 
92f.,  119. 


24      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

the  truth,  while  they  were  still  groping  in  the 
dark.  So  early  was  the  first  convert  from  Islam 
to  Christianity. 

Specific  proof  is  not  wanting  that  Muhammad 
came  in  contact  with  Christians,  even  allowing 
for  much  that  is  doubtful  in  the  traditions. 
These  connect  his  journey  or  journeys  in  his 
youth  to  Syria  with  a  monk  variously  called 
Sergius,  Bahira,  and  Nestor,  whom  he  saw  in 
Syria  and  who  foretold  his  future  greatness  :  a 
legend  which  is  found  in  Syriac  as  well  as 
Arabic  with  wonderful  ampHfications.  The  use 
of  ascetic  practices  by  Muhammad,  particularly 
night  vigils  of  prayer,  and  the  association  of  the 
word  Hanif  with  the  hermits,  give  color  to  the 
legend  though  not  to  the  form  it  takes  in  the 
tradition.  Another  tradition  is  that  the  Prophet 
heard  at  the  great  fair  at  Oqaz  a  hermit  or  poet 
or  bishop,  for  the  details  differ,  whose  preaching 
made  a  lasting  impression  on  him.  Among  the 
early  friends  and  followers  of  Muhammad  were 
Zaid,  his  adopted  son,  who  was  of  Christian 
parentage,  some  who  left  Christianity  for  Islam, 
and  the  three  "  Hanifs  "  mentioned  above  who 
accepted  Christianity.  One  of  these,  Waraqa, 
is  credited  in  Muslim  history  with  a  knowledge 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  25 

of  the  Christian  Scriptures  and  even  with  having 
translated  some  portion  of  them  into  Arabic. 
Before  Muhammad's  flight  from  Mecca  his  per- 
secuted followers  found  refuge  with  the  Chris- 
tians of  Abyssinia;  and  at  Medina  he  re- 
ceived repeated  embassies  from  Christian  tribes. 
In  seeking  to  discover  what  knowledge 
Muhammad  actually  had  of  Christianity,  we  can 
go  to  the  Quran  for  testimony.  Its  testimony 
so  far  as  it  goes  is  unimpeachable.  If  it  were 
our  purpose  to  seek  for  the  evidences  of  Jewish 
influence  the  material  would  be  far  more 
abundant;  and  especially  in  view  of  the  Judaistic 
heresies  of  the  time  it  is  impossible  to  draw  a 
sharp  line  between  Christian  and  Jewish  influence. 
It  will  be  simpler,  and  sufficiently  accurate  as 
well,  to  take  into  account  only  the  references 
in  the  Quran  to  distinctively  Christian  doctrine, 
thus  excluding  the  references  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, which  might  as  well  be  Jewish  as  Christian 
in  origin.  Those  to  the  New  Testament  are 
almost  certainly  Christian  in  origin,  though  it 
would  be  impossible  to  say  how  much  was 
derived  from  the  common  knowledge  of  the 
story-loving  populace  and  how  much  came 
directly  from  Christians.     At  the  risk  of  tedi- 


26      ISLAM  AND    THE   ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

ousness  it  will  be  well  to  give  a  summary  of  the 
supposed  New  Testament  history  contained  in 
the  Quran.  All  refers  to  the  life  of  Christ,  the 
only  other  Christian  legend  in  the  Quran  being 
the  story  of  the  Seven  Sleepers.  The  sacred 
history  of  Christianity  as  known  to  Muhammad 
was,  then,  somewhat  as  follows  : — 

The  wife  of  Imran  {i.  e.,  Amram),  being  with- 
out child,  dedicated  her  offspring  to  God,  and 
though  the  child  was  a  daughter,  remained  stead- 
fast in  her  vow.  The  child,  who  was  Aaron's 
sister,  was  called  Mary,  and  was  cared  for  by 
Zechariah,  aided  by  some  special  divine  pro- 
vision, he  having  been  chosen  to  this  office 
among  the  priests  by  lot.  Zechariah,  though 
stricken  in  years,  asked  God  for  an  heir,  and  one 
was  promised  him ;  and  he  then  asked  for  a  sign, 
which  was  given  him  in  a  three  days'  dumbness. 
This  son  was  John,  the  forerunner  of  the  word 
of  God.  Angels,  or  the  Spirit  of  God,  an- 
nounced to  Mary,  who  was  in  an  eastern  place 
{i.e.,m  an  attitude  of  prayer)  and  veiled  from 
the  rest  of  the  family,  that  she  in  her  virginity 
should  bear  a  son  who  should  be  the  Messiah. 
The  child  thus  conceived  by  the  power  of  the 
Spirit  was  born  under  a  palm  tree,  the  mother 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  27 

being  refreshed  by  a  stream  of  water  at  her  feet 
and  by  fresh  dates  shaken  from  the  tree,  and  be- 
ing warned  to  eat  no  more  food  that  day  and  to 
speak  to  no  one.  When  she  brought  the  child 
to  her  people,  they  reproached  her ;  but  she 
pointed  to  the  little  one,  who  spoke  from  the 
cradle  announcing  himself  to  be  a  prophet  sent 
from  God.  Jesus,  after  he  grew  up,  taught  the 
people,  presented  himself  to  them  as  a  prophet, 
and  by  the  help  of  the  Spirit  worked  miracles, 
forming  a  bird  of  clay  and  breathing  life  into  it, 
healing  the  blind  and  the  lepers,  raising  the  dead, 
telling  people  what  was  in  their  house  and  what 
they  ate. 

At  one  time  the  apostles  asked  Jesus  if  God 
were  able  to  send  down  a  table  from  heaven, 
saying  that  they  desired  to  eat  from  it  and  so  be 
perfectly  convinced  in  heart.  Jesus  prayed  and 
God  replied  with  a  promise  to  send  it  and  also 
with  a  threat  of  most  dire  punishment,  if  they 
should  still  be  unbelieving.  Again,  a  dialogue 
between  God  and  Jesus  refutes  the  idea  that 
Jesus  and  his  mother  may  rightly  be  worshiped 
as  gods.  The  Jews  disbelieved  in  Jesus  and 
were  cursed  by  him,  but  the  apostles  under  divine 
guidance  were  his  helpers.     Two  of  them  were 


28       I8LA3I  AND    THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

once  sent  to  a  city  and,  when  they  were  rejected, 
a  third  was  sent ;  but  all  three  were  denounced 
as  liars.  One  man  only  received  their  message 
and  was  forgiven,  while  the  other  people  were 
destroyed  by  a  single  sound  from  heaven.  It  is 
a  calumny  that  the  Jews  killed  Jesus.  They  did 
not  kill  him,  but  some  one  resembling  him  ;  while 
God  took  him  to  himself.  On  this  point  Chris- 
tians are  said  to  differ  and  to  have  no  certain 
knowledge.  Jesus  is  the  sign  of  the  Hour,  an 
Hour  that  shall  come  suddenly  and  unex- 
pectedly.i 

In  these  narratives  the  full  acceptance  of  the 
Virgin-birth  and  the  denial  of  the  reality  of  the 
Crucifixion  are  noticeable,  as  is  the  recognition 
of  the  Virgin  as  worthy  of  special  honor.  The 
legendary  and  partially  trivial  character  of  the 
material,  analogous  to  the  apochryphal  and  not 
to  the  canonical  Christian,  literature  is  too  marked 
to  require  comment.  Christ  is  frequently  men- 
tioned in  the  Quran  as  one  of  the  greatest  in  the 
prophetic  line,  while  it  is  vehemently  denied 
that  he  is  more  than  man.  Indeed  the  only  two 
specific  doctrines   of   Christianity  mentioned  in 

J  Qurait,  iii.  30-50  ;  iv.  154-156;  v.  82,  109-II7  ;  xix.  2-34; 
xxi.  89-93;  xxxvi.  13-2S  ;  xliii.  56-70. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  29 

the  Quran  are  vehemently  contradicted.  These 
are  the  Trinity,  taken  in  a  tritheistic  sense,  and  the 
Sonship  of  Christ,  taken  in  a  materiahstic  sense. 
This  denial  is  implied  in  such  passages  as  the 
following  short  sura : — 

"  In  the  name  of  the  merciful  and  compassion- 
ate God. 

Say,  '  He  is  God  alone ! 

God  the  Eternal  ! 

He  begets  not  and  is  not  begotten  ! 

Nor  is  there  like  unto  him  any  one  ! '  "  ^ 

As  well  as  in  explicit  statements  like  this  : — 
"  O  ye  people  of  the  Book !  do  not 
exceed  in  your  religion,  nor  say  against 
God  aught  save  the  truth.  The  Mes- 
siah, the  son  of  Mary,  is  but  the  apostle 
of  God  and  his  Word,  which  he  cast 
into  Mary,  and  a  spirit  from  him ;  be- 
lieve then  in  God  and  his  apostles  and 
say  not  •  Three.'  Have  done,  it  were 
better  for  you.  God  is  only  one  God. 
Celebrated  be  his  praise  that  he  should 
beget  a  son."  ^ 

And  this  :— 

"  And  when  God  said,  '  O  Jesus,  son  of 
Mary,  is  it  thou  who  didst  say  to  men, 
take  me  and  my  mother  for  gods,  be- 
side God  ?  '  He  said,  *  I  celebrate  thy 
praise,  what  ails  me  that  I  should  say 
what  I  have  no  right  to  say  ! '  "  ^ 

'  Ibid,  cxii.  '  Qurait,  iv.  l68f. 

^Qurafi,  V.  Ii6. 


30      ISLA3I  AND  THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

A  number  of  passages  show  that  Muhammad 
was  famihar  with  the  term  "  Holy  Spirit,"  and 
that  he  connected  the  Spirit  with  Christ  in  a 
special  manner.  The  way  in  which  Christ  is 
called  the  Spirit  of  God,  a  term  applied  now  by 
Muslims  to  him,  shows  that  Muhammad  did  not 
conceive  of  the  Spirit  in  a  personal  sense.^  The 
only  passage  approaching  a  direct  reference  to 
the  words  of  Jesus  as  found  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  the  following :  "  And  when  Jesus  the 
son  of  Mary  said,  •  O  children  of  Israel !  verily  I 
am  the  apostle  of  God  to  you,  verifying  the  law 
that  was  before  me  and  giving  you  glad  tidings 
of  an  apostle  who  shall  come  after  me,  whose 
name  shall  be  Ahmad.' "  ^  This  has  been  ex- 
plained by  commentators  on  the  Quran  as  refer- 
ring to  the  word  Paraclete,  the  Greek  word  being 

u 
taken  apparently  as  7cepi/iX)qT6Q  (renowned)  instead 

of  napdfiXrjro(;,  a  meaning  akin  to  Ahmad  and  the 
cognate  word  Muhammad,  is  not  an  afterthought. 
Two  supposed  references  to  the  Sacraments  are 
too  indefinite  and  dubious  to  merit  attention.^ 
Monks  and  priests  are  mentioned,  once  in  praise 

'  See  Hughes,  Dictionary  of  Islatn,  s.  v.  Spirit. 
^  Quran   Ixi.    6.    Deutsch    (^J?e??iains,   p.    68  note)  explains 
Ahmad  from  Old  Testament  Messianic  prophecy. 
3  Quran  ii.  138;  v.  1 12- 1 14. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  31 

and  elsewhere  with  blame.^  The  divisions  and 
disputes  of  Christians  with  each  other  are  fre- 
quently referred  to. 

A  broader  and  more  difficult  matter  than  de- 
termining the  direct  references  to  Christian  sub- 
jects in  the  Quran  is  to  estimate  the  extent  of 
Christian  influence  on  the  underlying  theological 
conceptions  of  Muhammad  as  contained  in  the 
book  he  left  behind  him.  Fundamental  to  all 
else  is,  of  course,  the  idea  of  God,  and  there  is  no 
room  for  doubt  that  the  influences  which  led 
Muhammad  and  others  in  his  generation  to  re- 
ject polytheism  were  Jewish  and  Christian.  He 
himself  regarded  Allah,  whom  he  worshiped,  as 
the  same  as  the  God  of  the  Jews  and  the  Chris- 
tians. The  most  magnificent  thing  in  the  Quran 
is  the  conception  of  God  "  the  merciful,  the  com- 
passionate and  the  ruler  of  the  day  of  judgment " : 

'•  He  who  knows  the  unseen  and  the  visible, — 
the  great,  the  lofty  one.  .  .  .  And  the 
thunder  celebrates  his  praise,  and  the  angels  too 
for  fear  of  him  ;  and  he  sends  the  thunder-clap 
and  overtakes  therewith  whom  he  will ; — yet 
they  wrangle  about  God !  But  he  is  strong  in 
might."  2 

'  Quran  v.  85  ;  ix,  31-35  ;  Ivii.  27.       '  Quran  xiii.  10-14. 


32      ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

There  may  be  a  trace  of  Christian  usage  in  the 
name  "the  merciful,"  but  nevertheless  all  the 
distinctively  Christian  and  some  of  the  Jewish 
elements  in  the  conception  of  God  are  lacking. 
He  is  not  the  Father ;  his  holiness  calls  for  no 
atonement  or  expiation  ;  his  love  does  not  yearn 
for  fellowship  with  man.  Another  fundamental 
conception  that  is  assuredly  biblical  is  that  of 
revelation  by  means  of  inspired  men  and  books. 
Muhammad's  doctrines  of  inspiration  go  be- 
yond that  of  any  Christians  in  the  idea  of  a 
heavenly  original  of  the  Quran.  Also  in  the 
conception  of  faith,  of  grace,  of  obedience,  and  of 
submission,  there  are  traces  of  Christian  influ- 
ences. The  conception  of  the  last  day  with  that 
of  the  Resurrection  is  assuredly  Christian  in  origin. 

"  When  the  heaven  is  cleft  asunder, 
And  when  the  stars  are  scattered. 
And  when  the  seas  gush  together. 
And  when  the  tombs  are  turned  upside 
down, 

The  soul  shall  know  what  it  has  sent  on 
or  kept  back. 

A  day  when  no  soul  shall  control  aught 
for  another;  and  the  bidding  on  that 
day  belongs  to  God."  ^ 

'  Idid  Ixxxii. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  33 

Angelology,  demonology,  eschatology,  with 
Gabriel,  the  last  trump,  Iblis,  Harut  and  Marut, 
Jinns  "  created  before  of  smokeless  fire,"  the 
reading  of  the  books,  the  weighing  in  the  bal- 
ances, the  gardens,  the  Houris,  and  all  the  detail 
of  imagery  in  which  the  Quran  abounds — these 
are  collected  from  various  sources,  Jewish,  Chris- 
tian, Zoroastrian,  heathen.  Like  the  legends, 
the  Prophet  cared  not  whence  they  came,  so  that 
they  suited  his  purpose.  Some  are  certainly 
Christian.  In  the  externals  of  the  faith,  the  fast 
is  probably  derived  from  the  Christian  Lent,  the 
ablutions  from  the  washings  of  the  Sabaeans  or 
Elkasaites,  and  the  ritual  prayer  from  either  Jews 
or  Christians.  Any  one  who  has  attended  serv- 
ice in  an  oriental  church  and  in  a  synagogue  in' 
the  east  needs  no  further  proof  that  either  could 
teach  the  scanty  ritual  of  Islam.  Much  more 
might  be  said  on  the  influence  of  Christianity  as 
traced  in  the  beliefs  of  Muhammad,  but  we  must 
pass  on  to  the  conclusions  derivable  from  the 
evidence.^ 

First,  however,  we   must   bring  to  mind  the 
fact  that  Muhammad  claimed,  and  never  weak- 
ened in  the  claim,  that  he  came  to  confirm  the 
*  See  Smith,  Bidle  and  Islam,  on  this  topic. 


34      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

religion  of  Abraham,  Moses,  and  Jesus,  In  what 
was  perhaps  the  very  last  sura,  we  read  the  words, 
"  promised  in  truth  in  the  Law,  and  in  the  Gos- 
pel, and  in  the  Quran."  ^ 

Let  us  attempt  a  general  statement  of  Muham- 
mad's  personal  relatio?i  to  Christian  teaching. 
His  fundamental  beliefs  were  largely  influenced 
by  Christianity,  probably  without  himself  recog- 
nizing the  source  of  those  ideas ;  he  had  consid- 
erable but  very  desultory  knowledge  of  Christian 
legend  and  much  less  of  Christian  doctrine  and 
ritual ;  his  knowledge  was  very  limited  and  on 
many  points  of  the  first  importance  he  was 
ignorant,  as  for  example  the  sacramental  system 
of  Christianity  and  the  distinction  between  Scrip- 
ture and  tradition ;  while  he  misunderstood  or 
misrepresented  other  equally  important  doctrines, 
such  as  the  death  of  our  Lord  and  the  Trinity. 
It  is  incredible  that  he  ever  saw  or  heard  the 
New  Testament.  For  example,  the  opposition 
of  Herod  and  his  attempt  to  kill  the  Child  Jesus 
and  the  flight  into  Egypt  are  the  kind  of  nar- 
rative that  Muhammad  made  use  of,  and  so  also 
are  the  persecutions  suffered  by  the  apostles. 
If  any  Christian  writings  reached  his  hand  or 
'  Quran,  ix.  113. 


THE  INFLUENCE   OF  CHRISTIANITY  35 

ear,  they  were  apocryphal  and  legendary ;  but 
there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  to  suppose 
that  any  literary  sources  are  required  in  order  to 
account  for  his  knowledge,  such  as  it  was. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  trace  the  mate- 
rials in  the  Quran  to  specific  sources  in  the 
Syriac  and  Arabic  Christian  writings,  but  even 
if  well  taken  they  do  not  prove  any  direct  re- 
lation. Indeed  many  of  the  books  referred  to 
are  later  than  Muhammad.^  The  eclectic  char- 
acter of  the  Christian  material  is  such  that  it  is 
hopeless  to  attribute  it  to  one  man  or  to  the  in- 
fluence of  one  sect.  If  Muhammad  takes  a 
doketic  view  of  the  death  of  Christ,  he  insists 
that  his  life  was  only  human.  If  he  objects  to 
tritheism  and  we  read  of  contemporary  monophy- 
site  tritheists,  Muhammad's  trinity  is  not  the 
same  as  theirs.  He  inveighs  against  the  deifica- 
tion of  the  Virgin,  but  it  is  a  far  call  from  Mu- 
hammad in  the  seventh  century  to  the  CoUy- 
ridians,  an  obscure  sect  that  was  imported  into 
another  part  of  Arabia  in  the  fourth  century. 
Muhammad  was  not  an  investigator  into  religious 
teaching,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
he  made  much  effort  to  learn  about  Christianity. 
1  E.g.,  St.  Clair-Tisdall,  Sources  of  Islam,  Ch.  IV. 


36       ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

He  was  a  dreamer,  a  seer  of  visions,  a  prophet 
whose  heart  burned  with  a  message. 

A  tradition,  Hke  so  many  others  true  in  spirit 
though  dubious  in  fact,  says  that  Umar  once 
brought  a  Pentateuch  to  Muhammad  to  read 
from.  The  Prophet  was  displeased  and  the 
faithful  disciple  said  in  true  Muslim  spirit :  "  God 
protect  me  from  his  own  anger  and  that  of  his 
apostle  !  It  suffices  me  that  God  is  my  cherisher, 
and  Islam  my  religion,  and  Muhammad  my 
Prophet."  Then  the  Prophet  added,  "  If  Moses 
were  alive  and  knew  my  prophecy,  he  would 
follow  me."  ^  He  had  the  truth  of  God,  and 
other  revelations  must  be  identical  with  his : 
therefore  he  used  them  merely  to  support  his 
own  claims.  This  is  shown  by  the  character  of 
the  contents  of  the  Quran  taken  in  connection 
with  the  general  acquaintance  with  Christianity, 
by  the  fact  that  there  is  no  evidence  in  the  Quran 
of  growth  in  his  knowledge  of  Christianity  with 
the  lapse  of  time,  and  by  the  use  he  makes  of 
Jewish  and  Christian  material.  The  first  of  these 
points  need  not  delay  us,  except  to  remark  on 
some  of  the  omissions  of  the  Quran.  It  seems 
inconceivable  that  one  who  cared  to  learn,  should 

^  Smith,  Bil)le  and  Islam,  p.  189 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY         Zt 

have  so  little  knowledge  of  the  institutions  of 
Christianity,  of  the  place  of  Christ's  death  not 
only  in  theology  but  in  popular  religion,  or  of 
the  battle  cry  of  controversy,  the  Theotokos. 
This  last  would  have  been  admirably  suited  to 
Muhammad's  polemic. 

Of  course  this  argument  from  silence  must  be 
used  with  care,  because  the  Quran  does  not 
necessarily  contain  all  that  Muhammad  knew  of 
Christianity.  Some  things,  as  the  sacraments 
for  example,  were  uncongenial  to  his  tempera- 
ment and  would  not  attract  him.  The  suras 
that  contain  the  narratives  referring  to  Christ 
belong  partly  to  the  Mecca  and  partly  to  the 
Medina  period  of  his  life,  and  they  practically 
agree  in  their  contents.  They  disprove  any 
growth  in  knowledge.  The  denial  that  Christ 
was  really  killed  by  the  Jews  is  in  only  a  later 
sura,  and  this  may  be  a  later  opinion  or  a  change 
in  opinion.^  At  all  events  it  illustrates  the  way 
in  which  Muhammad  used  his  material  and  the 
motive  that  actuated  him.  There  were  two 
reasons  why  it  suited  Muhammad  not  to  accept 
the  death  of  Christ.  One  is  that  in  the  Quran 
the  prophets  are  represented  as  persecuted  by  the 
^  Quran,  iv.  I56f. 


38      ISLAM  AND   TEE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

people  but  delivered  by  God  from  them.  The 
other  is  that  the  Jews  claimed  to  have  killed 
Jesus  and  at  the  time  Muhammad  was  quarrel- 
ing with  the  Jews  of  Medina.  The  gospel  story 
of  Christ's  death,  hinted  at  in  the  reference  to 
the  differing  opinions  on  the  matter,  did  not 
meet  his  purpose,  while  the  other  did,  and  so 
he  chose  it.  So  throughout  the  Quran  "  the 
Prophet  evidently  worked  over  the  material  he 
received,  to  fit  it  to  his  own  purpose.  He  was 
not  a  historian,  but  a  preacher.  .  .  .  For 
the  most  part  the  narratives  were  made  strictly 
subordinate  to  his  main  purpose,  and  we  can 
understand  the  narratives  only  as  we  keep  the 
purpose  in  mind."  ^ 

The  question  must  arise  as  to  the  bearing  of 
these  facts  on  our  estimate  of  the  character  of 
Muhammad.  How  can  we  reconcile  sincerity 
with  misrepresentation,  honesty  with  unnecessary 
ignorance,  the  claim  of  the  identity  of  his  own 
teaching  and  that  of  earlier  prophets  with  the  evi- 
dent differences  ?  A  distinction  must  be  made 
between  judging  Muhammad  as  an  Arab  and  as 
the  founder  of  a  universal  religion,  as  a  preacher 
for  the  seventh  century  and  as  a  teacher  for  the 

^  Smith,  Bible  and  Islam,  p.  95 f.,  6l. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY         39 

twentieth.  The  same  canons  of  judgment  can- 
not be  appUed  in  both  cases.  These  facts  are 
not  a  sufficient  ground  for  denouncing  him  as  an 
impostor.  He  came  to  his  behef  not  through 
the  teachings  of  another,  nor  by  way  of  some 
system  of  rehgion,  but  through  the  experience 
of  his  own  soul,  using  the  materials  he  found  in 
the  life  and  thought  of  his  time  to  feed  and 
clothe  the  faith,  that  was  itself  born  of  the 
travail  of  his  own  spirit.  These  materials  were 
not,  therefore,  the  foundation  of  his  faith. 

Furthermore,  there  was  none  of  the  critical 
instinct  in  the  mind  of  Muhammad,  as  there  is 
very  little  in  the  mind  of  the  Orient  in  general. 
The  skeptics  in  the  history  of  Islam  have  been 
such  on  metaphysical  grounds  and  not  from 
questioning  the  historical  bases  of  their  religion. 
The  proverbial  untruthfulness  of  Orientals  is  half 
of  it  due  to  the  absence  of  the  critical  faculty. 
They  believe  contradictions  and  are  as  credulous 
as  they  are  unveracious.  Muhammad  was  a 
ready  auditor  of  what  he  himself  called  the 
"  fables  of  the  ancients."  But,  if  we  regard  him 
no  longer  as  an  Arab  and  citizen  of  Mecca 
merely,  we  cannot  urge  such  considerations.  It 
is  no  longer  a  question  of  sincerity  but  of  worth. 


40      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

And  it  is  no  longer  the  man  alone  who  is 
judged,  but  the  religion.  The  man  and  the  faith 
are  inseparable,  as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the 
most  elaborate  attempt  yet  made  to  present  Islam 
as  a  religion  for  the  modern  world  is  entitled 
The  Life  and  Teachings  of  Muhammad  and  con- 
sists largely  of  a  eulogistic  biography  of  the 
Prophet.^  The  accuracy  of  this  author's  picture 
of  the  Prophet's  life  is  as  little  likely  to  be  ac- 
cepted by  scientific  scholarship  as  is  his  right  to 
represent  Islam  likely  to  be  recognized  by  the 
Ulema  of  that  faith.  His  view  of  the  narratives 
of  the  Quran  as  "  essential  parts  of  the  folklore 
of  the  country  "  and  "  traditions  floating  among 
the  people  "  is  very  different  from  that  of  the 
mass  of  Muhammadans  in  all  ages,  who  regard 
them  as  part  of  the  Quran  brought  down  from 
heaven.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  the 
Quran  in  its  use  of  impossible  narratives  and 
misrepresentation  of  Christianity  can  be  ac- 
commodated to  the  scientific  spirit  without  mak- 
ing it  so  indefinite  and  lacking  in  authority  as  to 
be  useless. 

The  facts  that  we  have  been  considering  offer 

1  Life  and  Teachings  of  MohatntneJ,  or  The  Spirit  of  Islam, 
by  Syed  Ameer  Ali. 


THE  INFLUENCE   OF  CHRISTIANITY  41 

a  very  obvious  line  of  argument  against  Islam, 
as  received  by  Muslims  everywhere.  The  Quran 
attests  the  authority  of  the  earlier  Scriptures  in 
repeated  verses,  such  as  the  following : — 

"  He  hath  sent  down  to  thee  the  Book  in 
truth,  confirming  what  was  before  it,  and  has 
revealed  the  law,  and  the  gospel  before  for  the 
guidance  of  men,  and  has  revealed  the  discrim- 
ination." ^ 

While  thus  attesting  their  authority,  it  con- 
tradicts them.  Muslims  meet  this  with  the 
scientifically  untenable  claim  that  the  Scriptures 
have  been  falsified,  basing  the  claim  on  a  charge 
by  Muhammad  against  the  Jews  of  perverting 
Scripture.  Another  argument  that  has  been 
formulated  against  Islam  is  the  following : 
"  The  Coran  is  held  to  be  of  eternal  origin,  re- 
corded in  heaven  and  lying  there  on  the 
'  Preserved  Table.'  Thus  God  alone  is  held  to 
be  the  '  Source '  of  Islam  !  and,  if  so,  then  all 
effort  to  find  a  human  origin  for  any  part  of  it 
must  be  in  vain.  Now,  if  we  can  trace  the 
teaching  of  the  Coran,  or  any  part  of  it,  to  an 
earthly  source,  or  to  human  systems  existing 
previous   to   the    Prophet's    age,  then   Islam  at 

'  Quran  iii.  2, 


42      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

once  falls  to  the  ground."  ^  It  may  be  ques- 
tioned how  effective  the  argument  would  prove  in 
this  form,  for  the  man  who  accepts  the  theory  of 
inspiration  referred  to  will  hardly  feel  its  force. 
Having  swallowed  the  camel,  he  is  not  Hkely  to 
strain  at  the  gnat.  However,  it  undoubtedly 
furnishes  the  basis  for  a  strong  and  effective 
argument. 

These  facts  have  an  important  bearing  on  a 
question  that  has  been  discussed  of  late  years, 
whether  Islam  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  stepping 
stone  to  Christianity.  This  position  assumes 
two  things  :  that  Islam  teaches  truth,  while  it 
eradicates  error,  and  that  it  is  capable  of  such 
modification  as  will  enable  it  to  approach  Chris- 
tianity. It  i^s  of  course  evident  that  it  is  a  great 
teacher  of  Monotheism,  but  observation  in  any 
Muhammadan  land  shows  that  along  with  the  ac- 
ceptance of  Islam  earlier  beliefs  and  practices  are 
singularly  persistent.^  But  passing  by  that  ques- 
tion, can  it  approximate  Christianity  as  a  system 
or  be  a  bridge  for  individuals  from  heathenism  to 
Christianity  ?  I  believe  that  it  cannot,  unless 
Christianity  deny  the  Trinity  and  the  divinity  of 

^  Sources  of  Islam,  p.  2. 

^  See  Curtiss,  Primitive  Semitic  Religion  To-day. 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CHRISTIANITY         43 

our  Lord,  and  not  only  that,  but  also  unless  he 
be  brought  down  to  the  level  of  other  prophets. 
Besides  this  dogmatic  contradiction  of  doctrines 
that  have  become  identified  with  historic  Chris- 
tianity, and  besides  the  denial  to  Jesus  of  a  unique 
place  and  authority  in  religious  and  spiritual  mat- 
ters, there  is  in  Islam,  as  we  have  seen,  a  misrep- 
resentation and  distortion  of  the  facts  of  the 
sacred  history  of  Christianity.  These  facts  are 
ignored  by  writers  of  whom  Bosworth  Smith  is  a 
conspicuous  example.  The  barrier  is  not  prima- 
rily in  the  traditions  or  in  the  later  dogmas  of 
Islam,  but  in  the  unchanging  and  unchangeable 
Quran,  nay,  it  originated  in  the  mind  of  Muham- 
mad himself.  And  history  bears  out  this  con- 
tention. ^ 

Islam  owes  its  origin  not  to  the  strength  of 
Christian  influence  but  to  its  weakness,  not  to 
force  of  circumstance  but  to  the  fault  of  the 
church.  Arabia  was  neglected  for  six  hundred 
years  and  the  church  has  suffered  the  penalty. 
The  Romans,  Greeks,  and  Syrians,  despised  the 
barbarians  of  the  desert  and  they  paid  the  price 
of  their  scorn.  This  is  the  first  chapter  of  a  long 
story  of  defeat,  but  the  greatest  defeat  of  all  was 
unfought  and  unsuspected.     It  took  place  in  the 


44      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

desert,  where  a  nation  was  left  in  ignorance,  as 
they  now  call  those  days,  and  where  forces  gath- 
ered and  matured,  suddenly  to  issue  forth  with  a 
mighty  and  long  enduring  power.  Some  of  the 
causes  for  this  failure  will  come  before  us  later. 
Let  us  now  impress  on  our  minds  that  such  neg- 
lect will  always  be  punished,  that  Christendom 
will  always  and  inevitably  pay  the  penalty  of  its 
indolence. 


Second  Lecture 

THE  RELATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY  TO 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLIM 

THEOLOGY 


Conditions  under  which  Muslim  and  Christian  theology  de- 
veloped. Oriental  Christianity.  Its  division,  extent,  charac- 
ter, theological  differences  and  agreements.  Interchange  of 
religious  ideas  between  Muslims  and  others.  Christian  influ- 
ence in  the  doctrine  of  the  "  foundations  "  of  Islam.  The  eternal 
Quran,  legendary  history  in  the  traditions,  the  doctrine  of  agree- 
ment. Christian  influence  on  the  Muslim  doctrine  of  God  and 
the  apostolate.  Christian  influence  on  the  sects  of  Islam. 
Slightness  of  Muslim  influence  on  Christianity,  and  limits  of 
Christian  influence  on  Islam.  Can  Islam  meet  modern  condi- 
tions ? 


Second  Lecture 

THE  RELATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY  TO 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLIM 

THEOLOGY 

Few  periods  of  equal  length  in  the  world's  his- 
tory exhibit  such  marvelous  changes  as  those  in 
western  Asia  during  the  seventh  and  eighth 
centuries.  In  the  early  years  of  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, while  Muhammad  was  preaching  a  new 
faith  in  Mecca  and  afterwards  founding  a  new 
empire  in  Medina,  a  conflict  was  taking  place 
between  the  two  great  world-empires,  Rome  and 
Persia,  led  by  two  men  of  marvelous  ability.  Not 
since  the  days  of  Darius  and  Xerxes  had  Asiatic 
armies  so  devastated  the  shores  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean as  did  those  of  Khusru,  the  Persian  king, 
and  the  campaigns  of  Heraclius  in  Asia  ap- 
proach those  of  Alexander  in  brilliancy.  While 
Constantinople  was  beleaguered  by  Persians 
and  Avars,  Heraclius  was  winning  victories 
in  the  very  heart  of  the  Persian  empire,  but  the 
permanent  fruits  of  conquest  were  gathered 
47 


48      ISLA3I  AND  THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

neither  by  the  Roman  nor  by  the  Persian,  but 
by  the  Arab.  The  wars  had  only  prepared  the 
way  for  a  foe  who  should  utterly  destroy  the  one 
empire  and  deprive  the  other  of  many  of  its  fair- 
est provinces. 

Twenty  years  after  the  flight  of  Muhammad 
alone  with  Abu  Bakr  to  Medina,  Egypt,  Syria, 
and  Persia  were  conquered.  In  another  decade 
the  Arab  capital  was  Damascus,  where  it  re- 
mained for  nearly  a  century  and  whence  the 
Khalifa's  dominions  extended  to  central  Asia 
and  to  the  borders  of  France.  In  the  middle  of 
the  eighth  century  the  capital  was  removed  to 
the  fertile  valley  of  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  a 
region  that  has  been  the  seat  of  empire  more 
continuously  than  any  other  in  the  world. 
Baghdad  was  founded,  and  the  close  of  the  cen- 
tury saw  the  height  of  Arab  magnificence  in  the 
reign  of  Harun-ar-Rashed.  These  familiar  facts 
are  rehearsed  because  church  and  state  are  one 
in  Islam,  and  with  the  empire  the  religion  was 
transplanted. 

As  in  every  other  religion,  so  in  Islam,  first  the 
faith  was  established  and  afterwards  theology 
was  developed,  but  never  before  or  since  under 
such  circumstances.     We  can  bring  these  before 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLIM   THEOLOGY      49 

our  mind  more  clearly  by  instituting  a  compari- 
son with  the  history  of  Christianity.  In  both 
religions  theology  was  developed  under  condi- 
tions and  in  regions  widely  different  from  those 
in  which  the  faiths  were  established.  Christian- 
ity emerged  from  Palestine  to  come  into  contact 
and  conflict  with  pagan  thought,  both  religious 
and  philosophical ;  and  the  seats  of  Christian 
learning  were  for  the  most  part  great  Greek  and 
Roman  cities,  such  as  Alexandria,  Antioch  and 
Carthage.  Similarly  Islam  emerged  from  the 
desert,  and  her  theology  was  developed  in  centers 
of  population  where  Christianity  and  Magianism, 
with  their  attendant  heresies  and  modifications, 
had  long  been  supreme.  The  parallel  is  far  from 
complete  and  one  difference  is  particularly  im- 
portant. For  nearly  three  hundred  years 
Christianity  was  not  the  religion  of  the  state ; 
and  during  this  period  it  was  often  persecuted, 
always  despised,  and  never  secure.  Islam,  on 
the  contrary,  except  for  a  single  decade  in  the 
life  of  the  Prophet,  was  a  sovereign  state ; 
questions  of  theology  were  matters  of  state ;  the 
emperor  was  also  the  Khalifa,  the  successor  of 
the  Prophet ;  and  the  growth  of  political  power 
was    marvelously   rapid.     Imagine,  if  you  can, 


50      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

that  the  victories  of  Constantine  followed  im- 
mediately on  the  events  related  in  the  first  part 
of  the  book  of  The  Acts,  and  it  will  give  an  idea 
of  one  important  phase  of  the  circumstances 
in  which  Muslim  theology  grew  up.  It  is 
often  said  or  impHed  that  the  growth  of 
Christian  theology  under  the  influence  of  Greek 
philosophy  in  particular  has  been  such  as  to 
hamper  and  impair  the  efficiency  of  the  faith. 
A  similar  judgment  has  been  passed  on  the  his- 
tory of  Islam,  and  it  has  been  claimed  that  the 
religion  suffered  from  Persian  and  Christian  in- 
fluences. Thus  a  brilliant  writer  speaks  in  terms 
of  disparagement  of  "  Persianized  and  Christian- 
ized Islam,"  meaning  Islam  as  developed  in 
Baghdad.^  Such  a  phrase  as  "  Christianized 
Islam "  will  come  to  most  as  a  surprise,  if 
not  a  shock.  Can  it  be  justified  and  how 
far? 

The  advent  of  Islam  synchronizes  with  the  be- 
ginning of  the  last  of  the  Christological  controver- 
sies, for  it  was  the  desire  to  unite  the  Christian 
parties  against  the  Saracens  that  led  the  emperor 
Heraclius  to  propound  as  a  compromise  measure 
the  doctrine  of  one  will  in  the  person  of  Christ. 

^  Essays  on  Eastern  Questions,  W.  G.  Palgrave,  p.  336. 

1 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  3IUSLIM  THEOLOGY      51 

Christian  theology  was  therefore  developed  to 
nearly  the  full  measure  reached  by  the  Ortho- 
dox Church  of  the  East,  and  the  peculiar  doctrines 
of  the  schismatic  churches  of  the  Orient  were 
fully  defined.^  The  controversies  over  the 
definition  of  the  doctrine  of  Our  Lord's  Person 
had  resulted  in  successive  great  secessions  from 
the  main  body  of  Christians,  all  of  which  had  af- 
fected almost  exclusively  the  Christians  of  Africa 
and  the  East.  The  council  of  Ephesus,  in  a.  d. 
431,  anathematized  Nestorius,  then  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  and  his  teachings.  He  was  an 
Antiochian,  as  were  his  closest  friends,  while  the 
great  scholar  to  whose  influence  the  fundamental 
ideas  of  Nestorianism  are  traced,  was  the 
Antiochian,  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  whose 
diocese,  however,  was  in  Cilicia.  The  ancient 
Christian  school  at  Edessa,  in  western  Meso- 
potamia, espoused  the  cause  of  Nestorius  with 
zeal,  and  finally  Nestorianism  became  the  religion 
of  the  church  in  Persia,  whence  it  extended  far 
into  Asia.  Similarly  Monophysitism,  though  not 
confined  to  those  regions,  was  strongest  in  Egypt 
and  Syria ;  and  the  organized  bodies  of  Mo- 
nophysites  were  those  whose  successors  are  now 

1  See  Appendix :    On  the  Divisions  of  Oriental  Christianity. 


52       ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

known  as  the  Copts,  the  Abyssinians,  the  Jacob- 
ites, and  the  Armenians. 

After  the  Arab  conquest  all  of  these  Nestorian 
and  Monophysite  churches,  except  the  Abyssin- 
ian, were  subject  to  Muslim  rule,  and  the  brunt  of 
the  conflict  with  Islam  fell  on  them.  In  this 
conflict  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Church  shared, 
in  close  identification  with  the  Eastern  Empire, 
though  more  and  more  within  Muslim  dominion  ; 
and  not  till  the  complete  victory  of  the  Osmanli 
Turks,  nine  centuries  after  the  first  Arab  con- 
quests, was  its  Patriarch  the  subject  of  a  Muslim 
ruler.  Among  these  churches,  the  Syrian 
churches,  Nestorian  and  Jacobite,  came  into  the 
closest  contact  with  Islam  and  to  them  accord- 
ingly we  will  devote  our  attention  chiefly.  With 
them  might  be  classed  the  Coptic  and  Armenian 
churches ;  but  Egypt  was  for  the  most  part 
politically  separate  from  the  Asiatic  regions,  and 
the  Armenian  history  from  the  Sassanian  period 
is  quite  distinct  from  that  of  the  Aramaic 
churches.  It  was  given  a  character  of  its  own 
by  the  long  national  conflict  with  the  Persian 
power,  and,  furthermore,  the  Armenians  never 
possessed  the  proselyting  zeal  that  marked  the 
history  of  the  Syrian  churches. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLUI  THEOLOGY      53 

At  the  risk  of  digressing  from  the  immediate 
topic  before  us  to-day,  it  seems  better  to  get  a 
general  view  of  the  Syrian  or  Aramaean  Chris- 
tianity, with  special  reference  to  its  theological 
character. 

The  spread  of  Christianity  northward  and 
westward  from  Palestine  is  familiar  to  us,  but 
we  are  far  less  familiar  with  its  rapid  extension 
to  the  East.  The  fact  that  the  apostles,  like  their 
Master,  spoke  an  Aramaic  dialect,  would  naturally 
lead  some  of  them  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the 
peoples  who  spoke  this  language,  and  tradition 
agrees  in  designating  Thomas  as  the  Apostle  of 
the  East.  Whatever  the  basis  may  be  to  that 
tradition,  it  is  certain  that  Christianity  very  soon 
extended  into  Mesopotamia.  In  the  second 
century  the  princes  of  Edessa  probably  pro- 
fessed Christianity.  Here  a  school  of  Chris- 
tian learning  grew  up  and  with  it  an  extensive 
and  ancient  Christian  literature,  whose  most  pre- 
cious but  not  sole  fruitage  was  the  Pshitta  ver- 
sion of  the  Bible.  Circumstances  rendered  the 
evangelization  of  the  Aramaic  or  Syriac  speak- 
ing population  that  extended  from  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea  to  the  eastern  border  of  the  Mesopo- 
tamian  plain  a  comparatively  easy  task.     They 


54      ISLA3f  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

had  lost  all  national  unity,  if  indeed  they  ever 
had  any.  They  were  in  part  under  Roman  and 
in  part  under  Parthian  rule,  and  probably  in 
both  cases  the  authority  exercised  was  not  more 
than  that  of  a  suzerain.  Neither  government 
certainly  had  any  zeal  for  the  native  religion  of 
that  region.  Furthermore  Greek  and  Persian  re- 
ligions and  intellectual  influences  must  have 
tended  to  prepare  for  a  change  in  faith. 

At  all  events,  Christianity  spread  rapidly  and 
was  firmly  established  when  the  rise  of  the  Sas- 
sanians  brought  into  power  in  Persia  and  Meso- 
potamia a  strong  dynasty  definitely  associated 
with  the  Zoroastrian  hierarchy.  This  was  in 
A.  D.  224.  From  that  time  for  several  centuries 
the  history  of  Persian  Christianity  is  not  unlike 
church  history  in  the  Roman  empire  before  Con- 
stantine,  one  of  growth  in  spite  of  intermittent  and 
sometimes  violent  persecution.  After  Chris- 
tianity became  the  state  religion  of  the  West,  it 
was  natural  that  the  most  zealous  persecutors 
should  be  the  kings  whom  ambition  or  necessity 
drove  to  war  with  Rome.  The  outcome,  how- 
ever, was  different,  for  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth 
century  the  Persian  government  under  the  great 
Anurshirvan  finally  recognized  the  right  of  Chris- 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLIM  THEOLOGY      55 

tianity  to  be  tolerated  but  not  to  proselyte.^ 
This  toleration  was  secured  in  part  because  of  the 
acceptance  of  Nestorianism  as  the  faith  of  the 
Persian  Church,  that  form  of  Christianity  being 
persecuted  by  the  Empire  and  so  favored  by 
Persia, 

We  need  not  regard  political  expediency  as 
the  only  motive  that  actuated  Barsuma  and  his 
associates  in  espousing  the  doctrines  of  Nestorius 
and  cutting  themselves  off  from  the  Church  of 
the  Empire,  for  the  school  of  Edessa,  from 
which  they  were  driven  to  establish  themselves 
in  Nisibis,  was  strongly  Antiochian  and  the 
memory  and  writings  of  the  great  Theodore 
were  highly  venerated.  This  process  of  separa- 
tion had  begun  before  the  Nestorian  contro- 
versy, as  is  shown  by  the  assumption  by  the 
Bishop  of  Seleucia  of  the  title  Catholicos ;  but 
it  was  completed  on  the  acceptance  of  Nes- 
torianism by  the  organization  of  the  church 
upon  an  independent  basis.  This  occurred  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  fifth  century.  The  Pa- 
triarchal  seat  was  at  the  capital  Seleucia,  with 

*  This  is  evident  from  the  Syriac  Lives  of  Mar  Gregor  and 
Mar  Aba  as  yet  untranslated.  (Bedjan,  Afar  YaWalaha,  1895.) 
See  also  the  terms  of  Anushirvan's  peace  with  Justinian  in  562 
(Rawlinson,  Seventh  O.  Monarchy.') 


56      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

numerous  metropolitan  and  diocesan  bishops 
throughout  the  Persian  empire. 

The  Monophy  site  controversy  followed  close  on 
the  heels  of  the  Nestorian,  but  it  was  not  until  the 
sixth  century  that  Jacob  Baradai  did  for  the  Jacob- 
ites what  Barsuma  in  the  fifth  century  had  done 
for  the  Nestorians — completed  their  separate 
organization.  The  Monophysite  party  had  always 
had  a  large  popular  following  in  Syria,  but  they 
were  persecuted  by  the  government  and  were  di- 
vided among  themselves,  with  little  hope  of  suc- 
cess, until  this  indomitable  leader  took  up  their 
cause  and  gave  them  new  life  and  organization. 
The  impression  made  by  his  energy  is  testified  to 
by  the  report  that  he  ordained  100,000  deacons  and 
priests.  The  sect  of  Jacobites  is  with  right  named 
after  him.  The  patriarchal  residence  shifted 
among  the  cities  of  northern  Mesopotamia; 
while  the  second  in  the  hierarchy,  the  MapJiri- 
ana,  as  he  was  called,  lived  in  Takrit  near 
Baghdad. 

It  is  impossible  to  form  any  exact  estimate  of 
the  size  of  these  Christian  bodies,  but  we  have 
evidence  as  to  their  wide  geographical  distribu- 
tion and  large  numbers.  All  Syriac  historical 
literature  testifies  to  the  large  Christian  popula- 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLIM  THEOLOGY      57 

tion  throughout  Mesopotamia  and  the  adjacent 
regions  to  the  eastward,  as  well  as  considerable 
bodies  in  still  more  remote  districts.  Cosmas,  a 
Christian  traveler  a  hundred  years  before  Mu- 
hammad, says  after  speaking  of  the  Christians  of 
India  :  "  In  the  same  way,  among  the  Bactrians, 
Huns,  Persians,  Persarmenians,  Elamites,  and  in 
the  whole  country  of  Persia,  the  churches  and  the 
bishops  are  without  number,  and  the  Christian 
population  very  numerous."  During  the  Khalifat 
of  Umar  Christianity  entered  northern  China. 
As  the  Arab  hordes  poured  out  of  Arabia,  they 
everywhere  found  Christianity  firmly  established 
and  organized.  In  Syria  there  were  the  mem- 
bers of  the  orthodox  state-church  and  large 
bodies  of  Jacobites  ;  beyond  the  bonds  of  the 
Empire  Nestorians  were  most  numerous,  but 
with  them  were  a  few  orthodox,  Chalcedonians 
or  Melchites  as  they  were  called,  and  more  Jaco- 
bites ;  and  even  in  the  farther  regions  of  the 
Persian  dominion,  as  Khurasan,  there  were  not 
only  Nestorians  but  also  Jacobites.^ 

The  theological  tenets  of  these  great  divisions 
of  oriental  Christianity  did  not  differ  as  widely 

'The  latter  had  been  transported  by  the  Sassanian  govern- 
ment from  Edessa  [Ass.  III.,  420). 


58      ISLA3I  AND    THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

as  one  might  infer  from  the  rancor  of  their  de- 
bates. I  would  not  depreciate  the  importance  of 
the  Christological  controversies  in  bringing  out 
clearlu  the  true  significance  of  our  Lord's  per- 
son, but 'that  need  not  make  us  forget  the  prac- 
tical identity  of  the  belief  of  the  disputants  on 
almost  all  doctrines.  For  our  purpose  the  dif- 
ferences are  important  only  so  far  as  they  af- 
fected the  character  of  the  Christians  themselves, 
for  they  lie  in  a  department  of  theology  placed 
entirely  outside  the  pale  of  discussion  with  Mus- 
lims by  the  denial  in  the  Quran  of  the  Sonship 
of  Christ.  These  differences  affected  the  char- 
acter of  the  Christians  not  so  much  by  the  im- 
plications of  the  peculiar  doctrines,  as  by  the 
artificial  divisions  marked  by  them  and  by  the 
unreal  character  of  the  theological  literature. 
The  founders  of  the  Nestorian  and  Monophysite 
churches  contended  for  something  that  to  them 
had  real  value.  It  was  not  a  battle  over  words, 
nor  was  it  mere  skirmishing  for  power.  But 
with  their  successors,  generation  after  generation, 
the  case  was  different.  The  point  at  issue  be- 
tween Jacobite  and  Nestorian  had  a  merely  fic- 
titious importance.  Nature,  and  Person,  and 
Hypostasis  were  nothing  more  to  them  than  the 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLIM  THEOLOGY      59 

shibboleths  of  party  strife.  Their  writers  did  not 
even  discover  new  arguments  ;  they  merely  fought 
over  again  the  battles  of  a  bygone  age,  using 
the  same  weapons,  heaping  up  opprobrious  epi- 
thets on  Cyril  or  Nestorius.as  the  case  might  be. 
The  East  is  full  of  strange  survivals,  but  there 
is  none  more  incomprehensible  and  more  pa- 
thetic than  the  rehearsal  of  old  debates  by  ori- 
ental Christians  even  to-day.  It  marks  a  steril- 
ity of  thought  that  explains  much  of  their  failure 
to  impress  the  new  religion  in  a  vital  way.  But, 
as  already  remarked,  these  differences  were 
Christological  and  hence  could  have  little  or  no 
interest  to  Muslims.  Not  so  with  their  agree- 
ments. They  were  practically  at  one  in  their 
teaching  as  to  the  nature  of  God,  in  the  accep- 
tance of  the  same  canonical  Scriptures,  even  in 
their  traditions  and  legends,  in  the  organization 
of  the  Christian  society,  in  the  mode  of  worship, 
and  in  their  conception  of  the  Christian  walk  and 
life.  In  all  of  these  it  is  at  least  conceivable 
that  they  should  have  influenced  Islam.  It  may 
be  thought  that  the  Nestorians  differed  more 
widely  from  the  others  than  they  from  each 
other,  and  to  some  extent  it  is  true.  The  Nes- 
torians were  more  primitive,  for  their  develop- 


60      ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

ment  had  been  arrested  at  an  earlier  stage  ;  but 
there  is  no  sufificient  reason  for  calling  them,  as 
has  been  done,  the  Protestants  of  the  East. 
They  differed  from  the  others  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  church,  in  the  rules  as  to  marriage 
of  the  clergy,  in  not  using  images  or  pictures, 
and  in  some  other  points.  The  absence  of 
images  would  appeal  to  the  Muhammadans,  but 
probably  not  the  other  differences.  The  Nes- 
torian  liturgy,  which  with  the  other  liturgies  is 
very  ancient,  is  less  explicit  than  they  in  its 
sacerdotal  teaching ;  but  it  contains  in  essence 
the  doctrine  of  the  sacerdotal  priesthood,  the 
sacrificial  element  in  the  Eucharist,  the  prayers 
for  the  dead,  and  the  intercession  of  the 
saints.^ 

If  further  illustration  be  required,  it  may  be 
found  in  the  letters  of  the  Patriarch  Ishuyabh, 
written  about  a.  d.  660,  in  which  he  urges  cer- 
tain unruly  Christians  to  submit  themselves  to 
the  Patriarch,  because  they  were  cutting  them- 
selves off  from  the  channels  of  sacramental  grace 
through  the  ordained  ministry  and  the  Apostolic 
Succession.^     In   brief,  the  Christianity  we  are 

^  See  Brightman's  Liturgies,  Eastern  and  Western,  Vol.  I. 
*  Budge,  Thomas  of  JMarga's  Book  of  Governors,  ii.  154. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLIM  THEOLOGY      61 

considering  was  substantially  the  Christianity  of 
the  later  Councils,  fallen  in  many  ways  from 
primitive  purity,  but  yet  not  lacking  in  intel- 
lectual power  nor  altogether  in  spiritual  zeal. 
The  Nestorian  and  Jacobite  writers  of  the  period 
immediately  preceding  Islam  are  men  of  no  little 
strength,  and  John  of  Damascus  of  the  Orthodox 
Greek  Church,  famous  alike  for  his  hymns  and 
his  theological  treatises,  lived  under  the  Khalifas 
of  Damascus. 

But  we  must  turn  to  Islam.  The  period  of 
the  development  of  orthodox  Muslim  theology 
may  be  limited  by  the  death  in  the  year  241  of 
the  Hijra  of  Ibn  Hanbal,  the  last  of  the  four  great 
masters  of  theology.  The  seat  of  empire  and  of 
religion  was  first  in  Damascus  and  then  in  Bagh- 
dad, and  we  know  from  historical  records  that  in 
both  these  places  Muslims  and  Christians  dis- 
cussed with  one  another  theological  topics.  The 
most  famous  disputant  in  Damascus  is  John,  the 
orthodox  theologian,  among  whose  writings  are 
disputations  against  Islam.  In  Baghdad  a  favorite 
amusement  of  some  of  the  Khalifas  was  to  have 
debates  by  representatives  of  different  religions, 
and  the  illustrious  example  of  the  rulers  was  fol- 
lowed  by   those   in   less    exalted   station.     The 


62      ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

Apology  of  Al  Kindi,  still  extant,  shows  that  the 
debaters  were  able  and  well  informed.  It  is  a 
fact  to  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  refer 
more  fully  at  another  time,  that  the  prejudices 
that  exist  between  Christians  and  Muslims  have 
been  intensified  since  the  early  centuries  of  Islam. 
The  conquerors  required  the  services  of  the 
Christians  for  governmental  and  literary  pur- 
poses, and  Christians  held  positions  of  high  influ- 
ence in  the  Arab  court.  One  Khalifa  after  an- 
other employed  Christian  physicians,  whose 
wealth  and  influence  are  subjects  of  frequent  re- 
mark by  the  Jacobite  historian,  Gregory  Bar 
Hebraeus.  The  debt  of  Arabic  learning  to  the 
Christians  who  translated  for  them  the  works  of 
the  Greek  philosophers  is  remarked  by  every 
historian.  An  evidence  of  the  interchange  of 
religious  opinions  is  that  during  the  period  of 
the  great  Abbasid  Khalifas  translations  were 
made  of  the  gospels  into  Arabic  from  Syriac, 
one  of  them  according  to  Bar  Hebraeus  in  the 
seventh  century  at  the  request  of  an  Arab  gov- 
ernor, and  there  is  record  also  of  a  refutation  of 
the  Quran  in  Syriac  about  the  beginning  of  the 
ninth  century  by  one  Abu  Nuh,  who  was  in  the 


DEVEL0P3TENT  OF  3IUSLI5I  THEOLOGY      63 

employ  of  the  governor  of  Mosul.^  It  is  not 
likely  that  these  works  were  composed  for  the 
purpose  of  gaining  proselytes.  The  motive  was 
almost  certainly  theological  curiosity. 

The  story  of  the  Karaite  Jews  is  a  very  inter- 
esting example  of  the  influence  of  one  religion 
upon  another  in  the  period  of  Arab  rule.  This 
sect  of  Jews  was  founded  by  one  A  nan  ben  David, 
who  aspired  to  be  the  prince  of  the  Baghdad 
Jews,  but  failed  in  his  purpose.  The  point  that 
interests  us  is  that  they  recognized  Jesus  as  a 
prophet  and  also  Muhammad,  and  that  they 
were  affected  by  the  discussions  current  among 
the  Muhammadans  as  to  the  anthropomorphisms 
in  the  Scripture  representation  of  God.  Two 
Jewish  sects  at  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, founded  by  Persian  Jews,  owed  their  ex- 
istence to  Mutazilite  influence ;  and  one  of  them 
after  the  death  of  their  leader  borrowed  the  con- 
venient doctrine  of  the  Alyides  that  he  was  not 
dead  but  only  concealed.^  There  is  no  room  for 
doubt  as  to  the  opportunity  of  the  Christians  to 
make  their  beliefs  known  to  the  Muhammadans. 

1  See  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  s.  v.  Arabic  Versions ; 
Bar  HebrKus,  Ec.  Chron.,  i.  275  ;  Assemani,  Bib.  Orient.,  iii, 
I,  212. 

'  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  II,  ch.  v. 


64      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

It  is  well  known  that  Islam  acknowledges  four 
foundations  or  sources  of  theology :  the  Quran, 
the  Sunnat  or  Tradition  believed  to  embody  the 
rule  or  teaching  of  the  Prophet ;  Ijma  or  Agree- 
ment of  the  Companions  of  the  Prophet  and  the 
authoritative  expositors  of  the  law ;  and  Qias  or 
analogical  reasoning.  This  department  of  the- 
ology (/.  e.,  its  sources)  is  developed  and  defined 
in  Islam  to  an  extent  unknown  to  Christianity. 
The  doctrine  of  inspiration  of  the  Quran  is  due 
to  the  high  claims  made  by  Muhammad  himself 
rather  than  to  any  later  influence.  Enough  to 
say  that  it  is  regarded  as  having  been  sent  down 
from  heaven  by  means  of  Gabriel  and  given  word 
for  word.  In  connection  with  the  Quran,  how- 
ever, a  question  has  been  the  occasion  of  much 
controversy,  which  in  all  probability  was  sug- 
gested by  Christianity.  The  following  quotation 
from  Abu  Hanifa,  who  died  a.  h.,  150,  will  indi- 
cate the  character  of  the  doctrine  of  the  "  Un- 
created Quran,"  as  well  as  that  'of  inspiration. 
He  says,  "  The  Quran  is  the  Word  of  God,  and 
is  his  inspired  Word  and  Revelation.  It  is  a 
necessary  attribute  of  God.  It  is  not  God,  but 
still  it  is  inseparable  from  God.  It  is  written  in 
a  volume,  it  is  read  in  a  language,  it  is  remem- 


DEVEL0P3IENT  OF  3IUSLIM  THEOLOGY      65 

bercd  in  the  heart,  and  its  letters  and  its  vowel 
points,  and  its  writings  are  all  created,  for  these 
arc  the  works  of  man,  but  God's  Word  is  uncre- 
ated. Its  words,  its  writings,  its  letters,  and  its 
verses  are  for  the  necessities  of  man,  for  its 
meaning  is  arrived  at  by  their  use,  but  the  Word 
of  God  is  fixed  in  the  essence  of  God,  and  he 
who  says  that  the  Word  of  God  is  created  is  an 
infidel."  ^  Muhammad  used  the  expression  Word 
of  God  in  reference  to  Christ ;  and  here  while 
there  is  no  thought  of  Christ,  it  is  difficult  to  re- 
sist the  belief  that  there  is  a  trace  of  the  teaching 
of  the  Word  that  was  in  the  beginning  with  God. 
This  is  made  still  more  likely  by  the  fact  that  in 
the  extant  disputations  of  John  of  Damascus  and 
of  his  pupil,  Theodore  Abukara,  an  argument  is 
based  on  the  use  of  the  title  Word  of  Our  Lord 
by  Muhammad.  What  was  original  to  the 
Muslim  theologians  was  the  application  of  the 
concept  to  the  Quran.^ 

The  dogma  of  the  Sunnat,  or  Tradition,  in 
Muslim  theology  grew  out  of  the  veneration 
paid  to  the  prophet  together  with  the  conception 

1  Hughes,  Diet,  of  /slam,  p.  484. 

2  Sell's  Fait/i  of  Islam,  79f.,  i88ff. ;  Macdonald,  Developmeni 
0/ Muslim  Theology,  p.  146;  Diet,  of  Christ  Biog.,  iii.  414. 


66       ISLAM  AND    THE   ORIENTAL    CHURCHES 

of  religion  by  which  necessity  was  felt  for  some 
word  or  act  of  his  to  guide  every  detail  of  life. 
The  Quran  was  inadequate  to  the  demand  and 
was  supplemented  by  the  mass  of  traditions,  and 
in  passing  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  number 
of  accepted  traditions,  goes  up  into  the  thou- 
sands, while  tens  of  thousands  more  were  re- 
jected. There  is  nothing  corresponding  to  this 
in  Christianity,  though  the  Apocryphal  gospel, 
if  made  canonical,  would  be  a  partial  parallel. 
Muslims  in  arguing  with  Christians  usually 
maintain  that  the  gospels  do  not  correspond  to 
the  Quran  but  to  the  Traditions.  Alongside  of 
Tradition  in  the  sense  just  explained  there  has 
grown  up  in  Islam,  as  to  some  extent  in  scholas- 
tic Christianity,  a  mass  of  legendary  history  and 
exegesis,  created  in  order  to  explain  the  allusions 
and  narratives  of  the  Quran.  In  character 
these  glosses  are  like  the  Quranic  legends,  only 
multiplied  many  times  in  volume  and  in 
marvels ;  and  the  sources  are  similar  to  those 
used  by  Muhammad  himself.  Furthermore 
there  is  the  same  naive  absence  of  criticism. 
Any  one  who  has  hved  in  the  East  and  en- 
gaged in  religious  conversation  with  Muslims 
knows  that  much  of  the  lore  of  the  learned  is 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLIM   THEOLOGY      67 

composed  of  statements  such  as  that  Job 
stamped  with  his  foot  and  two  springs,  one  hot 
and  one  cold,  gushed  out,  or  that  in  his  later 
prosperity  gold  rained  on  one  threshing  floor 
and  silver  on  another.  I  remember  a  call  on  a 
learned  doctor  of  the  law,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  related  to  us  with  a  very  evident  sense 
of  satisfaction  the  details  of  an  interview  be- 
tween the  Lord  Jesus  and  Plato :  both  of  whom, 
he  said,  were  great  physicians.  Apparently  the 
transmitters  (or  inventors)  of  these  legends  were 
mainly  Jews,  but  Christians  no  doubt  furnished 
a  part.^  Such  influences  are  hardly  worthy  of 
mention,  except  that  they  make  up  much  of  the 
substance  of  popular  religion. 

We  can  without  much  doubt  trace  Christian  in- 
fluence in  the  third  foundation  of  Islam,  Ijma  or 
Agreement.  There  is  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
the  persons  whose  agreement  is  a  valid  basis  for 
law  and  dogma.  All  join  in  accepting  the  Agree- 
ment of  the  Companions  of  the  Prophet,  and 
practically  all  Sunnites  accept  the  agreement  of 
the   great    Masters,  the   four  Mujtahids.     How- 

'  See  Am.  Journal  Sem.  Lang.,  xiv.  l37fF.  Also  Articles  on 
Bible  Characters  in  Jewish  Encyl. ;  and  in  Hughes'  Diet,  of 
Islam. 


68      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

ever  defined,  it  is  the  same  principle  as  the 
unanimous  consent  of  the  Fathers  or  the  de- 
cision of  an  ecumenical  council,  and  probably 
the  latter  is  the  form  in  which  it  would  be  most 
appealed  to  by  the  Christians,  with  their  dis- 
putes as  to  the  various  councils.  A  still  more 
direct  proof  of  the  Christian  origin  of  this 
principle  is  found  in  Muslim  jurisprudence. 
It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  jurisprudence  and 
theology  are  in  Islam  one  in  their  origins  and 
their  sanctions.  The  following  is  quoted  from 
Macdonald :  •'  The  courts  (in  the  territories 
conquered  by  the  Arabs)  were  permitted  to 
continue  in  existence  till  Islam  had  learned 
from  them  all  that  was  needed.  We  can 
still  recognize  certain  principles  that  were  so 
carried  over.  That  the  duty  of  proof  lies  upon 
the  plaintiff,  that  the  right  of  defending  himself 
with  an  oath  upon  the  defendant ;  the  doctrine 
of  invariable  custom  and  that  of  the  different 
kinds  of  legal  presumption.  These,  as  ex- 
pressed in  Arabic,  are  almost  verbal  renderings 
of  the  pregnant  utterances  of  Latin  law.  But 
most  important  of  all  was  a  liberty  suggested  by 
that  system  to  the  Muslim  juriconsults.  This 
was  through  the  part  played  in  the  older  school 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLI3I  THEOLOGY      69 

by  the  Responsa  Priidentium^  answers  by  promi- 
nent lawyers  to  questions  put  to  them  by  their 
clients,  in  which  the  law  of  the  Twelve  Tables 
was  expounded,  expanded,  and  often  practically 
set  aside  by  their  comments.  .  .  .  Further, 
the  validity  of  a  general  agreement  of  juricon- 
sults  '  reminds  us  of  the  rescript  of  Hadrian, 
which  ordained  that,  if  the  opinion  of  the 
licensed  prudentcs  (or  lawyers)  all  agreed,  such 
common  opinion  had  the  force  of  statute ;  but 
if  they  disagreed,  the  judge  might  follow  which 
he  chose.' "  * 

The  two  departments  of  theology  that  are 
most  fully  developed  in  the  eastern  churches  are 
the  doctrine  of  God  and  the  doctrine  of  Christ. 
It  has  been  said  by  Harnack  that "  at  the  close 
of  the  fourth  century  it  was  settled  that  the 
dogmas  of  the  Trinity  and  the  Incarnation  con- 
stituted the  faith."  ^  The  proportions  of  Muham- 
madan  theology  are  not  unfairly  indicated  by 
the  following  statement  from  a  summary  of 
modern  scholastic  Islam  :  "  Know  that  it  is  in- 
cumbent on  every  Muslim  that  he  should  know 
fifty  articles  of  belief,  and  for  each  article  he  should 

'  Macdonald,  Development  of  Muslim  Theol.,  84ff. 
"*  History  of  Dog//ia,  IV,  335. 


70      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

know  a  proof,  general  or  detailed.  .  .  .  Now, 
let  us  state  to  you  the  fifty  articles  shortly  before 
stating  them  in  detail.  Know,  then,  that  twenty 
qualities  are  necessary  in  God  Most  High,  that 
twenty  are  impossible  in  him,  and  that  one  is 
possible.  This  makes  up  forty-one.  And  in 
the  case  of  the  apostles,  four  qualities  are  neces- 
sary, four  impossible  and  one  possible.  This 
makes  up  the  fifty."  ^  In  Islam  the  Apos- 
tolate  (/.  e .,  the  prophetic  authority)  has  taken 
the  place  of  Christology.  In  beginning,  as 
every  theologian  must,  with  the  doctrine  of  God, 
the  Arabs  could  not  but  be  influenced  by  the 
systems  worked  out  in  oriental  Christianity. 
The  denial  of  the  Trinity  would  limit  that  in- 
fluence, but  the  eastern  churches  themselves 
had  no  adequate  grasp  of  the  character  of  God  as 
Father  and  in  the  enumeration  of  the  attributes 
of  God,  which  composes  so  much  of  Muslim 
theology,  the  differences  would  not  be  impor- 
tant. It  is  not  imitation  that  leads  the  oriental 
Christian  to-day  to  say, "  God  is  merciful,"  in  a  dif- 
ferent language  but  precisely  the  same  spirit  of 
trust  in  his  arbitrary  good-nature  as  the  Muslim. 
A  Nestorian  apologist  for  Christianity  argues 
*Macdonald,  Appendix,  Creed  of  JMiihani»iad  al  Fiidali. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  3IUSLIM  THEOLOGY      71 

that  the  only  difference  between  Christians  and 
Muhammadans  is  the  acceptance  of  Muhammad 
by  the  latter.^  We  cannot  doubt  that  investiga- 
tion would  reveal  parallels  in  language  and  sub- 
stance of  doctrine.  In  one  matter  of  detail  it  is 
very  certain  that  there  was  an  interchange  of 
ideas  between  Muslims  and  Christians.  It  is  the 
belief  of  orthodox  Muhammadans  that  in  para- 
dise God  will  be  visible  to  the  corporeal  eye. 
On  this  matter  there  was  bitter  controversy  be- 
tween the  conservatives  and  the  Mutazilite 
liberals.  A  little  before  Muhammad  this  same 
point  was  at  issue  between  the  Nestorians  and 
the  Euchites,  the  latter  believing  that  in  trances 
they  actually  saw  the  Trinity ;  and  at  the  very 
time  that  the  Muslims  were  debating  the  question 
there  was  some  difference  of  opinion  among  the 
Nestorians  themselves,  the  Patriarch  deciding 
that  the  divine  essence  was  not  visible  even  to 
the  human  nature  of  Christ.  It  may  be  noticed 
that  the  astute  Timothy  took  the  same  side  as  the 
Khalifa  Mamun.^     In  maintaining,  with  a  good 

1  Epistles  of  Elijah,  or  Disputation  with  Hussein  Abiilgasim, 
Assemani,  Bib.  Orient.,  Ill:   I,  270. 

«  Assemani,  Bibl.  Orient.,  Ill :  II,  172.  See  also  Goldziher 
{^Wiener  Zeit.  fiir  Kunde  des  Morg.,  XIII,  53)  on  Sufi  faith- 
healers,  whose  spokesman  was  a  Christian,  Abukheir. 


72      ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

deal  of  casuistry,  it  must  be  said,  the  sinlessness 
of  all  the  prophets,  including  Muhammad,  surely 
the  orthodox  were  striving  to  prove  his  fitness  to 
be  in  the  glorious  company  of  Him  in  whom 
was  no  sin  found  and  against  whom  alone  of  the 
prophets  there  is  in  the  Quran  no  suggestion  of 
evil. 

The  history  of  Muhammadan  theology,  to  a 
far  greater  extent  than  that  of  Christian,  is 
one  of  accretion  in  distinction  from  develop- 
ment. Some  of  these  accretions  have  been 
accepted  into  the  orthodox  system,  while  others 
belong  to  the  indefinite  body  of  sectaries  and 
mystics  that  are  in  Islam  but  not  of  it.  They 
owe  their  origin  in  large  measure  to  the  inevi- 
table effort  of  the  soul  to  bridge  the  chasm 
between  God  and  man.  In  the  mind  of  Muham- 
mad this  was  done  by  the  sending  of  prophets 
from  God  to  man,  by  faith  on  the  part  of  man, 
and  by  an  act  of  forgiveness  by  God  in  the 
working  of  his  omnipotent  will.  There  is  no 
place  in  this  system  either  for  a  mediator  or  a 
sacrifice,  and  much  less  for  any  Incarnation  in 
which  God  unites  man  to  himself.  This  phase 
of  Islam  is  expressed  in  the  following  quotation 
from  a  statement  by  the  Sheikh  ul  Islam  at  Con- 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLI3I  THEOLOGY      73 

stantinople  some  years  ago.  "  The  unsubmitted 
man  becomes  one  of  the  submitted  (z.  e.,  the 
non-MusHm  becomes  Mushm)  by  faith ;  that  is, 
by  fixing  in  his  heart  and  proclaiming  in  words, 
•  There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Muhammad  is 
the  prophet  of  God.'  By  that  act  he  has  become 
Mushm  and  has  found  divine  grace.  But  no 
human  being  can  be  intermediary  between  man 
and  God.  This  transaction  is  one  in  which  men 
or  priests  have  no  part.  Behef  annuls  all  sin. 
The  unbeliever  who  accepts  Muhammadanism 
becomes  by  conversion  as  innocent  as  on  the  day 
of  his  birth,  except  that  his  neighbor's  rights 
cannot  be  annulled ;  he  must  make  reparation 
on  the  Judgment  Day  to  every  person  whom  he 
has  oppressed  or  injured."  ^ 

Nevertheless,  even  in  scholastic  Islam  inter- 
cession and  sacrifice  are  recognized,  while  in 
popular  Islam  they  form  a  great  part  of  religion. 
In  the  Quran  itself  there  is  no  definite  promise 
of  intercession  for  believers,  the  sum  of  the  utter- 
ances being  that  no  one  shall  intercede  save  he 
"  whom  the  Merciful  permits."  In  the  traditions 
the  basis  is  more  explicit,  and  so  in  theological 
works  it  is  taught  that  Muhammad  will  intercede 

•  Quoted  in  Dwight,   Constantinople  and  its  Problems,  p.  59. 


74      ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

for  believers,  especially  but  not  exclusively  on 
the  last  day.  The  intercession  is  not  confined 
to  that  of  Muliammad,  as  the  following  indicates, 
"  He  should  believe  in  the  intercession  of  the 
prophets,  next  of  the  learned,  next  of  the  martyrs, 
next  of  the  rest  of  the  believers — each  according 
to  his  dignity  and  rank  with  God  Most  High." ' 
The  whole  Muslim  world  is  dotted  with  shrines, 
which  are  usually,  and  perhaps  invariably,  con- 
nected with  some  holy  man,  either  as  his  tomb 
or  as  being  associated  in  some  way  with  his  life. 
Thus  Persia  is  full  of  the  footprints  and  finger- 
prints of  Ali.  Only  a  few  can  make  the  pil- 
grimage to  Mecca,  but  these  local  shrines  are 
patronized  by  everybody.  How  much  of  this 
is  the  residue  of  old  heathenism  and  how  much 
is  due  to  Christian  influence,  being  in  part 
heathenism  through  Christian  channels  and  in 
part  due  to  the  desire  to  raise  Muhammad  to  the 
dignity  claimed  for  Christ,  cannot  well  be  de- 
cided ;  but  the  ideas  of  the  Muslims  and  those 
of  the  Christians  are  so  identical  that  they  have 
little  scruple  in  visiting  and  making  offerings  to 
each  other's  shrines.  , 

'  Macdonald,  Developtiient  of  Muslim  Theology,  Appendix, 
Creed  by  Al-Ghazzali,  p.  307. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLIM  THEOLOGY      75 

Lane,  in  his  Modern  Egyptians^  remarks  "  that 
it  is  a  very  remarkable  trait  in  the  character  of 
the  people  of  Egypt  and  other  countries  of  the 
East,  that  Muslims,  Christians,  and  Jews  adopt 
each  other's  superstitions,  while  they  abhor  the 
more  rational  doctrines  of  each  other's  faiths."  ^ 
This  is  very  true  of  the  practices  based  on  the 
idea  of  the  intercession  of  the  saints.  Sacrifices 
are  made  in  orthodox  Islam  in  connection  espe- 
cially with  the  Feast  of  Sacrifice,  at  Mecca,  where 
thousands  of  animals  are  slain,  and  aU  over  the 
world  of  Islam.  Sacrifice  was  a  part  of  the 
original  rites  of  the  heathen  pilgrims  and  was 
continued  by  Muhammad  along  with  the  Haj 
pilgrimage  and  not  from  any  theological  consid- 
eration. It  was  thus  from  the  first  a  foreign 
element  in  the  religion,  and  is  so  still. 

In  connection  with  the  veneration  of  saints  just 
mentioned  sacrifices  are  numerous,  and  among 
the  Shi'ite  Muslims  the  doctrine  of  vicarious  sacri- 
fice, though  rejected  by  the  builders,  has  become 
the  chief  corner  stone  of  popular  religion.  The 
great  religious  act  of  the  year,  which  feeds  the 

^  Lane,  i.  357.  Curtiss,  Primitive  Semitic  Relii^ion  Today, 
is  full  of  illustrations  of  the  survival  under  Islam  of  older 
religious  ideas. 


76      ISLA3I  AND   TEE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

flame  of  enthusiasm,  is  the  commemoration  of 
the  battle  of  Karbala,  in  which  the  Imam  Hus- 
sein, grandson  of  the  Prophet,  suffered  death. 
For  ten  days  in  every  Shi'ite  community  the  people 
give  themselves  up  to  religious  emotion,  proces- 
sions in  the  streets,  dramatic  representations  of 
the  tragedy,  recitals  and  sermons  on  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  Imams,  culminating  on  the  last  day 
in  an  orgy  of  frantic  exhibitions  of  mourning. 
The  cries  of  the  devotees,  the  bruised  backs  of 
the  flagellants,  the  ghastly  aspect  of  the  blood- 
stained bands  of  men  gashing  themselves  that 
thus  they  may  gain  a  share  in  the  atoning  blood 
of  the  field  of  Karbala,  all  the  sights  and  sounds 
of  that  last  and  great  day  are  such  as  never  to 
be  forgotten.  Even  the  details  of  the  passion 
bear  traces  of  the  imitation  of  the  gospel  story, 
which  was  rejected  by  Muhammad.  The  motive, 
the  impelling  force,  in  this  strange  ceremony  is 
the  belief  that  the  sufferings  thus  commemorated 
are  atoning.  In  popular  belief,  every  tear  shed 
during  those  days  is  efficacious  in  washing  away 
guilt,  while  the  blood  of  Hussein  avails  to  bring 
pardon  on  the  last  day  to  the  guiltiest  Muslim,^ 

1  See  S.  G.  Wilson,  The  Atoning  Savior  of  the  Shiahs,  Presb. 
and  Reformed  Review,  xiii.,  No.  51,  Also  Matthew  Arnold, 
Essays  in  Criticism,  A  Persian  Passion  Play, 

\ 


DEVEL0P3IENT  OF  3IUSLIM  THEOLOGY      TJ 

The  doctrine  of  successive  incarnations,  or 
rather  manifestations,  of  God  in  different  persons 
belonging  to  different  ages  is  a  favorite  belief  of 
the  Persian  sects,  the  last,  and  for  the  time  at 
least,  most  prominent  of  which  is  that  of  the 
Babis  or  Behais.  The  resemblance  to  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine  is  more  superficial  than  real,  and  it 
may  be  doubted  whether  its  origin  is  Christian, 
even  indirectly.  In  whatever  way  these  influ- 
ences, all  tending  to  create  a  doctrine  of  recon- 
ciliation, have  reached  Islam,  it  is  significant 
that  there  has  been  this  instinctive  effort  to  fill 
up  the  deficiencies  of  the  religion  in  the  very 
point  where  it  stands  in  most  marked  contrast  to 
Christianity.  We  have  a  plain  indication  here 
of  the  need  felt  for  a  Saviour,  who  is  more  than 
a  prophet  and  who  brings  an  atonement  as  well 
as  a  revelation. 

Christian  influences  may  also  be  traced  in  the 
sects  that  have  arisen  in  Islam,  some  to  disap- 
pear, some  to  be  absorbed  in  the  body  of  ortho- 
doxy, and  others  to  maintain  a  separate  exist- 
ence. One  of  the  earliest  of  these  is  the  Murjiite 
heresy,  which  questioned  the  eternal  punishment 
of  the  wicked  and  another  is  that  of  the  Qada- 
rites,  who  emphasized  the  freedom  of  the  human 


78      ISLA3I  AND    THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

will.  Both  of  these  tendencies  may  easily  have 
come  from  the  Greek  or  the  heretical  oriental 
churches ;  as  also  the  belief  in  purgatory  for 
MusHms,  which  has  become  a  dogma  of  Islam. 
Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  Mutazi- 
lites,  (philosophical  free  thinkers),  in  connection 
with  the  questions  of  the  eternity  of  the  Quran 
and  of  the  vision  of  God.  The  animating  prin- 
ciples of  this  sect  were  derived  not  from  the 
Christian  writings  but  from  those  of  Aristotle  and 
the  Neoplatonists,  which  reached  them  through 
Christian  translators.  Indeed  the  debt  of  the 
Arab  philosophy  to  the  Christians  is  not 
exaggerated  by  Bar  Hebraeus  when  he  says  : 
"  There  arose  among  them  (/.  e.,  the  Arabs) 
philosophers  and  mathematicians  and  physicians, 
who  excelled  the  ancients  in  the  subtilty  of 
their  understanding.  They  did  not  build,  how- 
ever, on  new  foundations  but  on  Greek  edifices, 
and  they  perfected  the  great  buildings  of  wisdom 
with  very  ornamental  phraseology  and  careful 
investigations :  hke  us,  from  whom  they  re- 
ceived the  knowledge  by  translators  who  were 
all  Syrians,"  ^  The  two  characteristics  here  men- 
tioned were  true  of  all  the  Arab  philosophers : 

1  Bar  Hebrasus,  Chron.  Syr.,  98. 


DEVEL0P3IENT  OF  MUSLBI  THEOLOGY      79 

they  were  indebted  to  Greek  thought,  and  they 
knew  the  Greek  writing  only  through  Christian 
translators.  A  passing  trace  of  the  spread  of 
Christian  ideas  is  found  in  a  notice  by  Bar  He- 
braeus  of  a  sect  in  the  time  of  Mamun  in  the 
mountains  north  of  Mosul  headed  by  a  man  who 
claimed  to  be  the  Mahdi  and  also  Christ  and  the 
Holy  Spirit.^  There  may  have  been  others 
under  like  influence  whose  names  have  been  lost 
to  history. 

Every  religion  has  its  mystics  and  in  Islam 
from  the  earliest  times  there  have  been  mystics. 
There  were  such  among  the  Arabs  who  had  a 
share  in  the  origins  of  Islam.  They  are  found  in 
Muhammadan  history  in  the  beginning  of  the 
second  century  of  their  era,  and  ever  since  they 
have  been  numerous  in  the  Muhammadan  world. 
Various  influences  have  entered  into  their  his- 
tory ;  the  Neoplatonism  just  mentioned.  Bud- 
dhistic ideas  from  India,  native  Persian  specula- 
tions, Manicheistic  teachings,  and  Christianity 
also.  The  home  of  Sufiism,  as  this  wing  of 
Islam  has  been  called,  is  Persia.  Many  of  its 
leaders  have  been  dervishes.  These  two  facts, 
Persian  influence  and  the  Jewish  orders,  will  ex- 
^  Bar  Hebrseus,  Chron,  Syr.,  144. 


80       ISLABI  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

plain  the  meeting  of  so  many  diverse  influences. 
Persia  is  between  the  nearer  and  the  farther  East, 
and  before  the  Turkish  conquests  the  area  under 
Persian  influence  was  larger  than  now  both  to 
the  east  and  to  the  west.  There  were  also  large 
bodies  of  Christians  then  in  what  is  now  south- 
ern and  eastern  Persia,  the  old  centers  of  Iranian 
population.  Persia  has  thus  been  open  to  di- 
verse influences  and  the  Persian  mind  is  recep- 
tive. Dervishes  are  wanderers.  It  is  a  com- 
mon thing  to-day  to  meet  anywhere  in  the  East 
men  of  this  class  who  have  been  all  over  the 
Muslim  world.  Religion  in  the  very  broadest 
sense  is  their  business  in  life. 

We  are  so  in  the  habit  of  regarding  Islam  as  a 
monotonous  and  unchanging  system  that  it  is  well 
to  emphasize  the  part  played  in  it  by  the  Persian 
mind,  which  is  speculative,  creative,  and  acute, 
and  also  the  part  played  by  an  ever  changing 
indefinable  movement,  such  as  Sufiism.  And  if 
it  is  not  in  good  repute  among  the  most  ortho- 
dox, it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  persecu- 
tion of  Sufis  ceased  ages  ago.  In  its  beginnings 
Sufiism  was  ascetic,  and  it  still  has  the  two 
apparently  contradictory  phases  that  marked 
Gnosticism,  asceticism  and  license.     In  its  ascetic 


DEVEL0P3IENT  OF  MUSLIM   THEOLOGY      81 

phase,  which  gave  rise  to  the  name  Sufi  (woolen, 
from  the  wool  garment  worn),  we  may  connect 
it  with  the  Euchites,  or  in  Syriac  Msalyani,  that  is, 
"  Those  who  pray."  These  were  devotees  of  both 
sexes,  who  lived  by  begging  and  who  by  the  repeti- 
tion of  prayers  and  by  dancing  brought  themselves 
into  trances.  The  earliest  Sufi  mentioned  was  a 
woman,  Rabia,  who  died  a.  h.  135,  and  in  all  the 
history  of  Sufiism  women  as  well  as  men  have 
had  a  place.  The  vagrant  lives  of  the  early 
Sufis  brought  down  on  them  the  reproofs  of  the 
orthodox ;  still  the  mendicant  dervish  with  his 
cocoanut  bowl  has  become  a  ubiquitous  and  in- 
fluential character  among  Muhammadans.  The 
Sufis  still  have  their  night  vigils,  dhikrs,  in  which 
certain  formulas  are  repeated  till  all  sensation 
melts  away  in  ecstasy.  Even  the  dancing  der- 
vishes, who  amuse  the  sightseer  in  Constantinople, 
have  their  predecessors  among  the  Euchites. 
The  Euchites  were  found  in  Syria  and  in  Meso- 
potamia, where  both  Nestorians  and  Jacobites 
had  trouble  with  them  at  the  close  of  the  sixth 
century  of  the  Christian  era.  Under  the  name 
of  Marcianites  they  were  perhaps  found  as  far 
east  as  Khurasan.  They  were  Christian  der- 
vishes.   The  early  literature  of  Sufiism  shows  that 


82      ISLAM  AND  THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

the  words  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  are 
echoed  in  it,  as  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  fol- 
lowing sayings,  the  first  of  which  is  traditionally 
ascribed  to  Muhammad  and  the  second  to  Umar : 
"  Be  trustful  in  God  in  truth  and  ye  shall  be  fed, 
as  the  birds  are  fed,  who  wake  hungry  in  the 
morning  and  by  evening  are  satisfied."  "  In  the 
morning  think  not  of  the  evening  and  in  the 
evening  think  not  of  the  morrow,  for  you  know 
not  your  name  to-morrow."  ^ 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  the  long, 
and  in  some  respects  not  unfriendly,  contact  of 
the  faiths  has  left  its  impress  on  Islam,  and  this 
in  various  ways :  on  the  development  of  the 
theology  which  best  represents  the  true  spirit  of 
Islam ;  on  the  popular  cult,  full  of  magic  and 
superstition,  with  relics  of  older  heathenism ;  on 
the  accretions  to  the  Islamic  system,  partly  ac- 
cepted in  the  orthodox  theology  and  partly  be- 
longing to  the  heretical  sects.  The  mutual 
influence  has   been  greatest  in  what  has  been 

'  On  Sufiism  see  Hughes'  Dictionary,  s.  v.  Sufi ;  Sell,  Faith 
of  Islam,  I07ff. ;  Essays  on  Islam,  The  Mystics  of  Islam  ;  On 
the  Euchites,  see  Diet,  of  Christ.  Biog.;  Bar  Hebrasus,  Chron. 
iiV.,  i.  574  ;  ii.  481,  573  ;  Thomas  of  AlargajW&.'x.jCh.  ttj.  On 
the  relation  of  Sufis  to  Euchites,  see  Goldziher,  Zeit.  filr  Kunde 
des  Morg.,  XIII,  39,  45f.  A  Euchite  leader  was  Marcus,  see 
Diet.  Chr.  Biog.  Marcians. 


DEVEL0P3IENT  OF  MUSLIM  THEOLOGY      83 

called  "  religion  of  the  second  rank,"  the  faith 
and  practice  of  the  people,  often  in  contradiction 
to  the  official  dogmas.  As  soothsayer  and 
writer  of  charms  the  priest  or  muUa  is  received 
by  those  who  would  flee  his  doctrinal  instruction. 
In  some  respects  Islam  has  approached  Chris- 
tianity. Yet  in  spirit,  as  we  shall  see  later  on, 
the  faiths  have  become  more  antagonistic  with 
the  passage  of  the  centuries ;  and,  in  spite  of  all 
that  can  be  said,  the  influence,  while  marked,  has 
been  limited.  Christ  is  no  more  to  the  Muslim 
theologian  than  he  was  to  the  Prophet.  The 
Bible  is  a  half-closed  book  to  one  as  to  the  other. 
In  the  realm  of  the  organization  of  the  body  of 
believers  and  their  worship  the  religions  have 
been  entirely  separated.  The  ethical  standard 
of  Islam  does  not  show  Christian  influence. 
The  conception  of  God  remains  substantially 
what  it  was  to  Muhammad,  analyzed  and 
minutely  described,  but  unchanged  in  essence. 
And  while  Christianity  has  left  a  permanent  im- 
press on  Islam,  the  latter  has  influenced  the 
former  far  less.  It  is  difficult  to  find  traces  of 
such  influence,  unless  it  be  in  connection  with 
the  iconoclastic  controversy,  in  which  the  de- 
fenders of  images  accused  their  opponents  with 


84      ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

being   prompted  by  the   Saracens.^     If  so,  the 
influence  was  finally  ineffectual. 

There  is  much  to  admire  in  the  way  in  which 
the  oriental  Christians  have  never  wavered  in 
the  confession  of  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  in 
their  faith  in  the  Trinity.  Perhaps  we  can  ad- 
mire almost  more  the  maintenance  of  certain 
principles  of  Christian  morality,  especially  the 
marriage  law.  To  this  they  owe  very  largely 
their  higher  average  prosperity  than  the  Muslims 
of  the  same  class  of  society.  But  in  part  their 
firmness  has  been  due  to  inertia  and  lifelessness, 
and  in  part  to  national  and  partisan  zeal.  The 
Nestorian  was  as  set  against  the  Jacobite  doctrine 
as  against  Muhammadanism.  One  author  writes 
a  polemic  that  deals  in  turn  with  the  Jews, 
the  Muhammadans,  the  Nestorians,  and  the 
Jacobites ;  while  another  writes  against  the 
Muhammadans,  Jews,  Jacobites  and  Melchites.^ 
The  oriental  Christians  might  have  learned 
lessons  from  the  Muhammadans  in  zeal  and  in 
freedom  of  worship  and  organization,  but  they 
learned   nothing.     In   general,    the    mutual    in- 

1  Harnack,  History  of  Dogma,  iv.  320 ;  Lozer,  Church  and 
Eastern  Empire,  104. 

"Assemani,  Bib.  Orient.,  iii.  i,  303,  609. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLIM  THEOLOGY'      85 

fluence  of  the  faiths  has  been  such  as  to  give 
httle  encouragement  to  those  who  dream  of  a 
fusion  of  rehgions. 

It  will  perhaps  be  said  that  the  reason  Islam 
and  Christianity  have  not  had  more  influence  on 
each  other  is  that  they  are  incompatible  and  that 
the  only  possible  relation  between  them  is  one 
of  opposition.  There  is  truth  in  this.  For  one 
thing  Islam  is  submission  to  Muhammad  and 
Christianity  is  the  acceptance  of  Christ  as 
supreme.  However  much  this  personal  element 
in  religion  is  obscured,  it  cannot  be  eliminated. 
Furthermore,  the  Quran  contains  a  representa- 
tion of  Christ,  which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  is 
contradictory  to  the  Christian  history.  This  is 
illustrated  by  an  anecdote  in  the  Ecclesiastical 
Chronicle  of  Bar  Hebraeus.  Amr  ibn  Sad, 
famous  or  infamous  in  history  as  one  of  the 
murderers  of  Hussein,  asked  the  Jacobite 
patriarch  to  translate  for  him  the  gospel  into 
Arabic,  but  in  such  a  way  that  Jesus  should  be 
called  by  no  divine  title  and  there  should  be  no 
mention  of  baptism  or  of  the  cross.  "  And  the 
blessed  John  replied,  '  Far  be  it  from  me  to  sub- 
tract one  jot  or  one  tittle  from  the  gospel,  even  if 
all  the  darts  and  spears  of  your  camp  pierce  me.' 


86      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

And  seeing  his  courage,  the  other  said,  '  Go 
and  write  as  you  please.'  "  ^  Even  the  modern 
apologist  for  Islam,  in  spite  of  his  repudiation 
of  Muslim  theology,  feels  it  incumbent  on  him 
to  marshal  what  arguments  he  can  to  show 
that  Jesus  escaped  the  cross.^  Muhammadans 
at  least  in  the  present  day  are  accustomed  to 
call  Christians  Cross-worshipers,  and  the  Cross, 
with  its  historical  and  doctrinal  impHcations, 
has  always  been  a  barrier  between  the  re- 
ligions. Yet  much  of  the  failure  must  be  laid 
at  the  door  of  eastern  Christianity.  Its  theology 
had  ceased  to  live  and  grow,  and  had  entered  be- 
fore Islam  on  the  stage  of  dead  scholasticism. 
More  might  be  said  on  this,  as  on  another  phase 
that  certainly  had  much  influence  in  preventing 
Christianity  from  affecting  Islam  more  than  it 
did.  This  is  the  political  status  of  Islam. 
Islam  was  not  merely  the  state  religion,  but  it 
was  the  state.  Christianity  at  best  was  a  toler- 
ated faith  and  they  could  not  meet  on  equal 
terms.  The  apology  of  Al  Kindi  is  a  bold 
polemic  against  Muhammad,  and  speaks  much 
for  the  tolerance  of  Mamun  and  his  court,  but  it 

'  Bar  Hebrseus,  Ec.  Chron.,  i.  275. 
"  Syed  Ameer  Ali,  Spirit  of  Islam,  57. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  MUSLIM  THEOLOGY      87 

required  a  special  guarantee  from  the  Khalifa 
and  the  invitation  of  a  powerful  courtier  to  make 
it  possible. 

Islam  must  within  the  next  few  generations 
meet  a  new  crisis  in  its  history.  It  is  coming 
into  close  contact  with  modern  thought  and  civ- 
ilization. It  must  meet  these  changed  condi- 
tions, if  it  is  to  hve,  and  the  question  arises 
whether  it  can  do  this  or  not.  History  shows 
that  Islam  is  capable  of  great  changes  and  of 
flourishing  under  very  varied  conditions.  It  also 
shows  that  it  has  received  into  its  system  from 
the  very  beginning  elements  from  outside,  and  it 
is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  this  process  may 
go  on.  Two  attempts  have  been  made  within 
the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  to  accom- 
modate the  religion  to  present  conditions.  These 
are  the  Babi  movement  in  Persia  and  that  of  the 
so-called  Mutazilites  of  India.  Both  have  claimed 
a  hearing  and  have  sought  to  gain  converts  in 
Christian  lands.  The  method  followed  is  differ- 
ent in  each.  Babism,  while  professing  great 
reverence  for  Muhammad  and  the  Quran,  substi- 
tutes a  new  prophet  and  a  new  revelation.  It 
has  a  new  and  different  system  of  theology  and 
a  new  code  of  morals.     The  liberal  movement  in 


88      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

India  treats  Muhammad  and  the  Quran  much  as 
the  most  advanced  wing  of  Unitarians  treats 
Christ  and  the  Bible.  It  practically  repudiates 
the  past  history  of  Islam,  except  to  make  a  ver- 
sion of  Christian  history  to  contrast  with  their 
versions  of  Muhammadan  history.  The  two 
movements  agree  in  being  revolutionary. 

However,  the  elements  which  have  entered 
Islam  from  outside  in  the  past  have  not  been 
assimilated.  The  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  with  all 
its  rites  is  a  useful  bond  of  the  Muhammadan 
world,  but  it  has  no  relation  to  Muslim  theology. 
So  the  intercession  of  Muhammad  and  the 
saints  is  in  contrast,  and  even  in  contradiction, 
to  the  theory  of  forgiveness.  This  inability  of 
Islam  to  assimilate  the  elements  received  into  it 
has  been  made  the  reason  for  denying  to  it  the 
claim  to  be  a  universal  religion,  and  the  argu- 
ment seems  to  be  thoroughly  valid.'  In  a  sense 
in  this  very  fact  lies  much  of  its  strength,  its  im- 
mobility in  essence  along  with  a  large  toleration 
of  divergent  or  even  contradictory  doctrine. 
But  this  is  not  progress.  The  religion  itself  is 
not  thus  gaining  power  to  hold  and  inspire  high 

•  Natural    Religions    and    Universal    Religions^     Kuenen, 
Hibbert  Lectures,  1882;  Lect.  i. 


DEVEL0P3IENT  OF  MUSLIM  THEOLOGY      89 

and  noble  minds.  For  us  as  Christians,  if  we 
believe  that  Islam  is  inevitably  doomed  by  the 
progress  of  mankind,  the  obligation  is  all  the 
greater  to  substitute  for  the  imperfect  that  which 
is  perfect,  and  for  the  transitory  the  permanent. 
At  its  highest  and  best  Islam  is  the  service  of 
God,  but  Christianity  is  Sonship.  "  The  bond- 
servant abideth  not  in  the  house  forever :  The 
Son  abideth  forever." 


Third    Lecture 

THE     RELATION    OF    MUHAMMADAN 

GOVERNMENT  TO   THE   ORIENTAL 

CHURCHES 


General  outline  and  periods  of  the  history,  A.  D.,  600-1500. 

Toleration,  in  the  strict  sense,  the  characteristic  of  the  policy  of 
Islam  to  other  religions.  The  origin  of  the  policy.  Policies  of 
the  eastern  Empire  and  of  Persia.  Practice  of  Muhammad. 
The  history  of  the  policy.  The  constitution  of  Umar,  Arabian 
Christianity,  the  attitude  of  the  Christians  to  the  Arab  conquest, 
maintenance  of  the  status  quo,  Christianity  under  the  Khalifas, 
conditions  under  the  Mongols,  fanatical  reaction.  The  effect 
on  the  churches.  Spiritual  effect  of  limiting  activity,  effect  of 
governmental  influence  in  ecclesiastical  affairs.  Dangers  of 
toleration.     Compromise  a  characteristic  of  Islam. 


Third    Lecture 

THE     RELATION    OF    MUHAMMADAN 

GOVERNMENT  TO   THE   ORIENTAL 

CHURCHES 

Impossible  though  it  be,  it  seems  necessary  to 
attempt  to  compress  into  a  paragraph  the  main 
outUnes  of  the  history  of  western  Asia  for  nine 
centuries,  from  the  time  of  Muhammad  till  the 
rise  of  the  empire  of  the  Osmanli  Turks  and  of 
the  kingdom  of  the  Persian  Shahs.  In  the  place 
of  the  divided  rule  of  the  Romans  and  the  Per- 
sians the  Arabs  within  ten  years  after  the 
Prophet's  death  had  established  the  supremacy 
of  his  successors,  the  Khalifas,  over  the  whole  of 
the  Persian  empire  and  over  a  large  portion  of 
the  Asiatic  and  African  dominions  of  the  Roman 
empire.  This  supremacy  was  for  a  generation  in 
the  hands  of  the  great  elective  Khalifas,  and  then 
for  a  century  in  those  of  the  line  of  the  Umay- 
yads  with  the  capital  at  Damascus.  For  over 
five  hundred  years  the  Abbasid  Khalifas  of 
Baghdad  maintained  the  succession,  until  the 
93 


94      ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

last  one  was  murdered  in  a.  d.,  1258  (a,  h.,  656) 
by  Hulagu  Khan,  the  Mongol  conqueror  of 
Baghdad ;  but  long  before  that  time  the  empire 
had  fallen  to  pieces  and  the  suzerainty  of  the 
Khalifa  had  become  a  mere  shadow.  This  dis- 
integration began  with  the  loss  of  Spain  at  the 
commencement  on  the  Abbasid  Hne  (a.  d.  750, 
A.  H.  132),  and  in  the  next  century  independent, 
or  semi-independent,  dynasties  established  them- 
selves in  Syria,  in  Egypt,  and  in  the  eastern 
provinces  of  Persia  and  Transoxiana.  Another 
hundred  years  saw  the  Khalifa  stripped  of  all  real 
authority  even  in  his  own  capital.  Turkish  in- 
roads had  already  begun  and  for  the  next  three 
hundred  years  western  Asia  was  divided  by  the 
ever-shifting  boundaries  of  Turkish,  Kurdish,  and 
Arab  dynasties  and  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  Cru- 
saders. Greatest  among  these  rulers  were  Sala- 
din  and  his  successors  and  some  of  the  Seljuk 
Turks.  All  rose  and  fell  by  the  fortunes  of  war. 
In  the  thirteenth  Christian,  and  the  seventh 
Muslim,  century  the  Mongols  under  Jingis  Khan 
and  his  successors  obliterated  the  existing  dy- 
nasties and  threatened  to  overwhelm  Islam  in 
the  common  ruin.  In  Persia  for  a  time  Hulagu 
and  his  successors  were  the  masters  of  a  vast 


MUHAMMADAN  OOVERmiENT  95 

territory,  but  they  failed  to  build  a  lasting  do- 
minion. Timur,  or  Tamerlane,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  fifteenth  Christian,  and  the  ninth  Muslim, 
century  swept  like  a  destructive  cyclone  over 
western  Asia,  establishing  "  a  reign  of  terror, 
and  not  an  empire."  After  a  short  time  the  Os- 
manlis  reestablished  and  extended  their  rule  in 
the  West,  and,  in  the  East,  Persia  became  an  in- 
dependent kingdom.  A  new  era  began,  in  com- 
parison with  that  which  preceded  an  era  of  peace, 
but  not  of  stability  or  prosperity.  In  this 
framework  of  external  events  must  be  woven  a 
complex  history  of  religious  development  and 
expansion,  of  magnificence,  manufactures,  and 
commerce,  of  war  and  famine.  There  were, 
roughly  speaking,  three  hundred  years  of  peace, 
broken  indeed  by  the  wars  of  the  Emperors  and 
the  Khalifas  and  by  bloody  rebellions,  but  still 
marked  by  great  luxury  and  wealth  and  by  the 
culture  of  the  arts  and  sciences ;  and  then  six 
hundred  years  of  war  and  anarchy,  interspersed 
with  the  armed  peace  of  military  rulers  and  the 
prosperity  of  short-lived  courts.  The  actors  in 
the  long  and  varied  drama  are  nations  rather 
than  men.  First  from  the  desert  peninsula  of 
Arabia  issued  forth  the  warriors  of  Islam ;  then  for 


96      ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

generations  the  walls  and  armies  of  Constantinople 
-kept  back  from  Europe  the  march  of  conquest; 
again  the  mysterious  tide  of  national  migration 
for  half  a  millennium  brought  horde  after  horde 
of  savage  Turks  and  Mongols  from  the  heart  of 
Asia,  and  fire  and  blood  reigned  from  the  banks 
of  the  Oxus  to  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean, 
while  the  mailed  knights  of  the  Crusades  added 
to  the  tale  of  carnage  and  of  woe.  The  govern- 
ment was  Muslim  for  the  most  part.  Asia 
Minor,  until  the  rise  of  the  Seljuks  and  the 
Osmanlis,  was  in  large  part  subject  to  Constanti- 
nople ;  the  unstable  kingdoms  of  the  Crusaders 
interrupted  Muslim  rule  in  Syria  for  a  time ;  the 
Armenians  and  Georgians  in  their  mountainous 
regions  maintained  a  precarious  independence ; 
and  the  Mongols  were  at  first  pagans.  Other- 
wise Muslim  supremacy  was  complete.  Islam 
was  able  to  develop  its  policy  toward  other 
faiths  freely  and  with  little  fear  of  interference 
from  without.  It  was  formulated  in  the  golden 
age  of  Islam,  under  the  Khalifas  who  united  the 
faithful  under  one  head. 

Toleration  is  the  distinguishing  mark  of  the 
policy  of  the  Arabs  toward  Christianity :  tolera- 
tion in  the  strict  sense  of  permitting  other  reli- 


MUHAMMADAN  GOVERNMENT  97 

gions  besides  the  dominant  one  to  practice  their 
rites,  but  not  toleration  in  the  broader  sense  of 
reHgious  equaHty.  Along  with  the  Christians, 
the  Jews  are  also  tolerated,  as  being  possessors 
of  a  revelation  from  God.  There  are  three 
possible  policies  with  reference  to  religion,  perse- 
cution, toleration,  and  freedom.  In  the  first 
the  attempt  is  made  to  compel  all  to  accept 
the  dominant  faith.  This  was  the  policy  of 
Islam  with  reference  to  Arabia  and  to  idolaters 
everywhere.  History  is  full  of  examples  of  the 
failure  of  compulsion  and  of  the  acceptance  of 
toleration  in  its  stead.  Protestantism  has  been 
tolerated  in  Roman  Catholic  countries  and  Ro- 
man Catholicism  in  Protestant  countries.  Per- 
haps no  nation  has  enforced  it  more  consistently 
and  rigorously  than  Russia  in  our  own  times. 
Islam  accepted  it  from  the  beginning  with  refer- 
ence to  Christianity  and  Judaism,  and  it  can  claim 
the  credit  due  to  the  acceptance  of  toleration 
rather  than  persecution  and  to  the  incorporation 
of  the  principle  in  the  foundations  of  the  faith 
and  in  the  fundamental  code  of  the  State,  which 
is  also  the  church.  Practice  has  often  been 
more  lenient  than  theory.  The  early  Khalifas 
to  some  extent  destroyed  the  temples  of  the  fire- 


98       ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

worshipers  in  Persia,  but  the  poUcy  was  not 
rigorously  carried  out  and  Zoroastrianism  became 
practically  a  tolerated  faith.  The  Manicheans 
were  also  tolerated.  In  Mesopotamia  Harran 
was  a  center  for  idolaters,  who  were  tolerated  by 
the  government  and  from  whom  physicians  rose 
who  rivaled  the  Christian  physicians  of  Bagh- 
dad.i 

Probably  no  application  of  the  principle  of  tol- 
eration is  more  difficult  than  toleration  of  dissent- 
ing forms  of  the  prevailing  cult.  It  has  been  so 
in  Islam.  The  wars  of  the  Kharajite  dissenters 
were  long  and  bloody,  and  the  Khalifas  most  tol- 
erant to  Christians  persecuted  "  heretics."  Even 
in  this,  however,  toleration  has  become  the  prac- 
tice of  Islam.  The  great  Shi'ite  shrine  at  Kar- 
bala  is  on  Sunnite  territory,  while  the  only  Shi'ite 
monarch,  the  Shah  of  Persia,  counts  thousands  of 
Sunnites  among  his  subjects.  The  Druzes  and 
Nusairiyeh  of  Syria,  the  Yezidees  of  Mesopo- 
tamia, and  the  Ali  Illahis  and  Babis  of  Persia  are 
all  tolerated  subjects  of  Muslim  states.  Tolera- 
tion is  capable  of  varying  degrees  of  strictness 
in  application  and  is  affected  by  the  character  of 

•  Muir,  Caliphate,  363 ;  Miiller,  Isla/n  im  Morgen  tmd  Abend- 
land,  ii.  7;  Von  Kremer,  Ciilturgeschichte,  ii.  169-17 1. 


MUHAMMADAN  GOVERNMENT  99 

the  rulers.  At  best  toleration  is  a  compromise 
and  is  dependent  on  the  payment  of  a  price. 
That  price  is  often  outward  and  partial  con- 
formity to  the  faith  of  the  state.  What  the 
price  has  been  in  the  case  of  Christianity  we 
shall  see.  The  third  policy,  religious  freedom 
and  equality,  is  based  on  a  separation  of  state 
and  church  utterly  foreign  to  the  constitution  of 
Islam. 

The  origins  of  this  policy  of  toleration  are  to  be 
found  in  the  practice  of  Muhammad  himself  and  in 
the  conditions  existing  at  the  time  of  the  rise  of 
Islam.  Muhammad  was  not  a  persecutor,  if  by  that 
is  meant  one  who  feels  it  his  duty  to  force  upon 
others  at  the  point  of  the  sword  the  acceptance  of 
certain  beliefs.  As  long  as  he  was  at  Mecca,  he  and 
his  followers  were  in  the  minority  and  were  perse- 
cuted. Hence  the  development  of  the  policy  of 
the  Prophet  toward  other  faiths  belongs  to  the 
later  period,  when  he  was  in  Medina,  and  was 
the  head  of  a  city  that  grew  into  a  state  and 
finally  embraced  the  whole  of  Arabia.  From 
the  earlier  part  of  his  career  he  brought  a  friend- 
liness to  Jews  and  Christians,  the  claim  that  his 
religion  was  the  fulfillment  of  theirs,  and  the  ac- 
knowledgment   of    the    divine    origin    of    their 


100     ISLA3I  AND    THE   ORIENTAL    CHURCHES 

revelations.  Medina  was  a  place  where  he  was 
brought  into  contact  with  a  large  and  established 
body  of  the  adherents  of  another  religion,  for 
the  earlier  inhabitants  were  Jews,  and  the  Arabs 
who  accepted  Islam  were  later  immigrants.  He 
was  thus  forced  at  the  very  beginning  of  his 
political  career  to  establish  some  sort  of  a  basis 
of  political  relationship  with  them.  The  original 
enactments  are  still  extant.  In  them  Muham- 
mad recognizes  the  status  already  existing 
between  the  Jews,  and  Arabs  of  Medina,  includ- 
ing the  toleration  of  the  Jewish  religion,  the 
civil  rights  of  both,  their  alliance  in  war,  and  the 
common  obligation  to  meet  its  burdens ;  but 
reserving  the  supreme  authority  to  himself.  The 
later  history  is  not  such  as  was  contemplated.  It 
is  one  of  assassination,  war,  confiscation,  exile, 
captivity,  and  massacre.  We  have  the  story 
from  Muslim  sources  only  and  they  throw  all  the 
blame  on  the  Jews  ;  but  the  verdict  of  history  is 
not  likely  to  exonerate  the  Prophet  from  a  share 
in  the  infraction  of  his  ordinances.  The  fact  is 
plain  on  any  version  of  the  history  that  Muham- 
mad felt  it  necessary  in  establishing  his  power  to 
treat  with  the  utmost  severity,  not  to  say  bar- 
barity, the  Jews  of  Medina  and  adjoining  places. 


MUHAMMADAN  GOVERNBIENT  lOl 

His  own  spirit  may  be  inferred  from  the  language 
of  the  Quran : — 

Verily  the  worst  of  beasts  in  God's 
eyes  are  those  who  misbelieve  and  will 
not  believe ;  with  whom  if  thou  dost 
make  a  league,  they  break  their  league 
each  time,  for  they  fear  not  God ;  but 
shouldst  thou  ever  catch  them  in  war, 
then  make  those  who  come  after  them 
run  by  their  example;  haply  they  may 
remember  then.  And  shouldst  thou 
ever  fear  from  any  people  treachery, 
then  throw  it  back  to  them  in  like  man- 
ner ;  verily  God  loves  not  the  treach- 
erous.^ 

These  attacks  were  not  for  the  purpose  of 
compelling  the  Jews  to  accept  Islam  and  the  let- 
ter at  least  of  the  famous  dictum  delivered  at  an 
earlier  time, "  There  is  no  compulsion  in  religion," 
was  kept ;  but  then  as  always  the  acceptance  of 
Islam  brought  relief.^ 

The  conditions  that  determined  the  relation  of 

1  Sura,  viii.  57-60. 

2  Sura,  ii.  257.  Wellliausen,  Skizzen  unci  Vorarbeiten ,  iv. ; 
Muhammeds  Gemeinde  orduring  von  Medina.  Arnold  in  tlie 
Freachitjg  of  Islam  passes  over  the  subject.  It  is  difficult  to 
see  how  his  view  of  Muhammad's  character  is  reconcilable 
with  the  treatment  of  the  Jews.  Syed  Ameer  Ali  {^Spirit  of 
Islam)  makes  the  most  he  can  of  the  perfidies  of  the  Jews  and 
the  political  necessities  of  Muhammad. 


102    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL    CHURCHES 

Muhammad  to  the  Christians  were  different  from 
those  in  the  case  of  the  Jews  of  Medina.  Ac- 
cordingly the  history  is  different.  The  Christian 
Arabs  were  probably  more  numerous  than  the 
Jewish  Arabs,  but  they  were  much  less  denation- 
alized. On  many  of  them  Christianity  sat  very 
lightly.  The  centers  of  Christianity  were  at  a 
distance  from  Medina,  the  political  capital  of 
Islam.  Muhammad  came  in  contact  with  them 
when  his  power  was  established,  and  when  his 
ruling  purpose  was  not  to  entrench  himself  firmly 
and  at  all  hazards  in  a  certain  locality,  but  to  win 
all  Arabia  to  his  faith.  He  doubtless  felt  that 
the  Jews  of  Medina  were  a  political  menace,  but 
that  the  Christians  were  not.  It  was  necessary, 
however,  that  they  should  be  not  only  allies  but 
also  subjects,  and  consequently  the  terms  offered 
them  and  the  remaining  Jews  in  Arabia  were  less 
liberal  than  those  contained  in  the  original 
enactments  for  the  Medina  Jews.  His  policy 
comes  out  clearly  in  the  accounts  of  the  em- 
bassies that  he  sent  and  received  to  and  from 
every  part  of  Arabia  and  is  illustrated  in  the  fol- 
lowing quotations  from  his  letters. 

And  Muhammad  wrote  to  the  bishop 
of  the  Banu  '1  Harith,  Banu  Kab,  and 


MUHAMMADAN  GOVERNMENT  103 

to  the  bishops  of  Najran  and  to  their 
priests  and  monks :  There  shall  be 
guaranteed  to  you  the  protection  of 
God  and  his  apostles  for  the  posses- 
sion of  your  churches  and  your  wor- 
ship and  your  monasteries,  and  no 
bishop  or  priest  or  monk  shall  be  mo- 
lested ...  so  long  as  you  remain 
true  and  fulfill  your  obligations. 

And  Muhammad  wrote  to  Mar 
Yuhanna  ibn  Ruba  and  to  the  chiefs  of 
the  people  of  Ayla :  Peace  to  you.  I 
commend  you  to  God  besides  whom 
there  is  no  God.  I  would  not  war 
against  you  without  first  writing  to  you. 
Either  accept  Islam  or  pay  the  poll-tax. 
And  hearken  to  God  and  to  his  Apostle 
and  to  these  envoys.  ...  If  you 
turn  my  envoys  back  and  are  not 
friendly  to  them,  then  will  I  accept  no 
reparation  from  you,  but  I  will  war 
against  you  and  will  take  the  children 
captive  and  will  slay  the  aged.  .  .  . 
If  you  will  hearken  to  my  envoys,  then 
shall  you  be  under  God's  protection  and 
Muhammad's  and  that  of  his  allies. 

The  following  to  a  Jewish  tribe  brings  out  a 
little  more  baldly  than  most  the  tribute. 

In  the  name  of  the  gracious  and 
merciful  God.  This  is  a  letter  of  Mu- 
hammad, the  Apostle  of  God,  to  the 
Banu  Uraid.  Levy  of  the  Apostle  of 
God :  ten  loads  of  flour,  ten  loads  of 


104    ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

barley  at  every  harvest,  fifty  loads  of 
dates.  They  must  be  paid  every  year 
at  its  time  in  full  measure  and  in  no- 
wise held  back. 

In  another  case  it  is  agreed  that  in  the  tribe 
of  Taghlib  the  adults  should  remain  Christian 
but  the  children  should  not  be  baptized.^  To 
the  heathen  Arabs  the  alternatives  offered  were 
two,  the  sword  of  Islam,  and  the  threat  of  war 
was  no  empty  boast.  Muhammad  was  in  many 
things  an  opportunist  ready  to  compromise,  if 
that  seemed  to  be  the  wisest  way  to  accomplish 
his  ends.  Religion  and  politics  were  so  identi- 
fied that  he  was  necessarily  controlled  by  consid- 
erations that  we  would  regard  as  political.  The 
policy  that  he  bequeathed  to  his  successors  with 
reference  to  other  religions  is  clear.  It  was 
toleration  on  the  basis  of  paying  tribute  and 
accepting  the  position  of  protected  vassals.  The 
rights  guaranteed  are  those  of  worship,  not  of 
proselyting.  Tradition  says,  and  Muslims  have 
always  believed,  that  on  his  deathbed  Mu- 
hammad enunciated  another  principle  modify- 
ing those  already  stated.     Arabia  should  be  for 

*  Wellhausen,  S/cizzen,  iv ;  Miihaimnads  Schreiben  und  die 
Gesendschaften  an  Ihn,  xiv.  (p.  lo6),  xlv.  (p.  I20),  xlvii. 
(p.  121),  c.  (p.  156). 


MUHAMMADAN  GOVERNMENT  105 

Muslims  only,  a  land  sacred  to  the  true  faith. 
It  may  well  be  that  as  he  felt  that  Medina  must 
be  all  MusHm  in  order  to  be  a  firm  basis  from 
which  to  win  Arabia,  so  Arabia  must  be  unified 
in  order  to  win  the  earth. 

How  far  Muhammad  was  acquainted  with  the 
practice  of  other  countries  we  do  not  know.  He 
may  well  have  heard  the  complaints  of  Christian 
refugees  from  the  oppressive  laws  of  the  empire 
and  also  the  stories  of  the  martyrs  under  the 
Persian  kings.  In  Arabia  itself,  the  Arabs  were 
not  persecutors  of  other  faiths,  due  perhaps  in 
part  to  the  absence  of  any  strong  religious  or- 
ganization. Jews  and  Christians  in  south  Arabia 
had  set  an  example  of  intolerance  by  persecut- 
ing one  another.  Christianity  in  that  age  was 
intolerant,  and  the  Nestorians  and  Jacobites 
knew  well  the  severity  of  the  laws  of  Justinian 
and  other  emperors  against  all  but  "  orthodox  " 
Christians,  the  special  definition  of  "  orthodoxy  " 
depending  on  the  personal  belief  of  the  emperor 
as  well  as  the  creeds  of  the  church.  Persecution 
was  not  necessarily  a  sign  of  religious  bigotry. 
It  was  as  much  the  policy  of  the  statesman  as  of 
the  prelate.  Heraclius  after  his  victories  over 
the  Persians  had  made  the  union  of  the  divided 


106    ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

forces  of  Christendom  in  the  East  the  main  ob- 
ject of  his  endeavors,  not  on  the  basis  of  equal 
liberty,  but  by  establishing  a  new  and  artificial 
doctrinal  standard.  He  failed  and  the  Nestor- 
ians  and  Monophysites  welcomed  the  Arab  con- 
querors.^ In  Persia  the  intolerant  zeal  of  the 
first  Sassanians  had  cooled,  and  especially  since 
the  times  of  the  great  Anushirvan  the  Christians, 
particularly  the  Nestorians  and  the  Jacobites, 
enjoyed  considerable  freedom.  Proselyting  from 
the  religion  of  the  state  was  bitterly  opposed  by 
the  Magian  priests.  From  the  time  of  the  Parthian 
kings  the  very  numerous  and  powerful  Jewish 
community  in  Babylonia  had  been  tolerated  and 
its  community  rights  recognized,  while  a  poll 
tax  was  paid  by  them  and  such  a  tax  was  col- 
lected by  some,  at  least,  of  the  Sassanian  mon- 
archs  of  the  Christians  also.^  It  is  possible  that 
we  have  here  the  origin  of  Muhammad's  policy 
of  tribute,  as  we  have  assuredly  the  precedent 
followed  by  his  successors. 

When    Islam    under  Umar  extended  beyond 

'  Finlay,  //is/,  of  Greece  Under  Foreign  Dominadon,  i.  332, 
382f.,  394f.,  421  ff.;  Lozer,  Church  and  Easter7i  Empire,  36, 
77ff. 

5  Rawlinson,  Seventh  Oriental  /Monarchy,  ii,,  ch.  iv. ;  Graetz 
Hist,  of  Jews,  ii.,  ch.  xix. ;  iii.,  ch.  i. 


MUHAMMADAN  GOVERNMENT  107 

Arabia  into  regions  whose  inhabitants  were  of  a 
different  faith,  a  reorganization  of  the  state  weis 
inevitable  and  the  terms  of  this  new  order  are 
found  in  what  is  known  in  tradition  as  the 
Constitution  of  Umar.  This  provided  that  the 
Arabs,  who  had  issued  from  Arabia,  should  be  a 
caste  of  warriors,  forbidden  to  own  land  and 
supported  from  the  public  treasury.  The  non- 
Muslim  inhabitants  were  left  in  possession  of  the 
land,  but  were  required  to  pay  a  poll  tax  while 
a  land  tax  was  levied  on  the  land.  In  case  they 
accepted  Islam,  they  passed  over  into  the  class 
of  Muslims  supported  from  the  treasury,  and  the 
land  they  had  held  was  distributed  among  the 
non-Muslims,  the  tax  going  with  it.  Within 
Arabia  none  but  Muslims  were  permitted  to 
live.  In  addition  to  the  above  fundamental 
principles,  tradition  assigns  to  Umar  other  regu- 
lations as  to  dress,  use  of  horses,  church  build- 
ings, etc.,  which  are  likely  later  in  origin.  This 
code  was  too  communistic  to  last  long  without 
great  modification,  but  the  principle  of  toleration 
accompanied  by  civil  disabilities  and  financial 
burdens  persisted.^ 

An   immediate  result  of  the  policy  of  Umar 

'  See  Appendix,  Constitution  of  Umar. 


108    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL    CHURCHES 

was  the  practical  extinction  of  Christianity  in 
Arabia.  The  process  however,  was  gradual. 
The  force  of  national  enthusiasm  and  the  attrac- 
tion of  the  rich  spoils  of  conquest  carried  most  of 
the  Christians  over  to  Islam.  Some  preferred  to 
pay  the  poll  tax  and  retain  their  faith.  They 
were  compelled  to  emigrate.  Thus  the  Chris- 
tians of  Najran,  in  spite  of  the  promise  of  Mu- 
hammad that  they  should  be  undisturbed,  had  to 
leave  Arabia  and  part  settled  in  Syria  and  part 
near  Kufa.^  The  Banu  Taghlib  held  by  the 
faith,  and  Bar  Hebraeus  tells  of  two  of  their  chief- 
tains who  later  suffered  martyrdom  for  it.^  The 
Christian  apologist  in  the  time  of  Mamun  boasts 
of  his  pure  Arab  ancestry  of  the  royal  tribe  of 
Kindi.  Jacobite  and  Nestorian  bishops  of  the 
Arabs  are  mentioned  for  several  centuries,  one 
being  bishop  even  of  Sana  and  Yaman  and 
others   of  the  border  regions.^     Badawin  Chris- 

•  Muir,  Calif  hate,  155;  Arnold,  Preaching  of  Islam,  44f. 

'Bar  Hebraeus,  Chr.  Syr.,  112,  115.  The  persecutors  were 
Abd  al  Malik  and  Walid.  Muir,  Cal.,  150.  This  tribe,  how- 
ever, lived  in  Mesopotamia  rather  than  Arabia.  Muir,  Cal., 
24,  62. 

5  Bar  Hebrieus,  Ec.  Chron.,  i.  303,  George  Bishop  of  Arabs 
(686-724)  but  probably  Syrian  Christians  in  Mesopotamia;  iii. 
123,  in  list  of  dioceses  under  Maphriana,  both  Arabia  and  the 
Clui.itian  Arabs;    iii.   193,  bishop  of  Bahrein,  c.  A.  D.   840; 


MUHABIMADAN  GOVERNMENT  109 

tians  arc  still  to  be  found  in  Hauran.  As 
Arabic  became  the  language  of  the  Christians 
generally  in  Syria  and  in  the  valleys  of  the 
Euphrates  and  the  Tigris,  the  remnants  of  Arab 
Christianity  would  become  indistinguishable 
from  the  Christians  of  other  races. 

To  the  Christians  who  lived  in  the  regions  , 
conquered  by  the  Arabs  the  change  of  rulers 
was  a  welcome  one.  This  fact  is  remarked  by 
all  the  historians  of  the  period.  Finlay,  the 
great  historian  of  the  Byzantine  Empire,  calls 
special  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  first  easy 
conquests  of  the  Arabs  extended  only  over  the 
provinces  that  were  most  disaffected  on  account 
of  the  religious  policy  of  the  emperors.  Syria, 
Egypt,  and  Mesopotamia  were  inhabited  mainly 
by  "  heretics,"  and  they  yielded.  Asia  Minor  ' 
was  "  orthodox  "  and  it  stoutly  resisted.^  In  the 
same  way  the  Christians  in  Persia  treasured  the 
memory  of  the  martyrs  at  the  hands  of  the  earlier 
kings,  and  resented  the  interference  of  the  later 
kings  in  the  affairs  of  the  church.  Anushirvan 
had  repeatedly  exiled  from  the  capital  the  Nes- 

Thomas  of  Marga,  ii.  448,  Nestoiian  bishops  of  Sana  and 
Yaman,  c.  A.  D.  800. 

'  Finlay,  vol.  i.,  ch.  v.,  sect.  ii. 


no     ISLA3I  AND    THE   ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

torian  patriarch  and  had  killed  a  Jacobite  Maph- 
irana,  while  Parviz  had  long  prevented  the 
election  of  a  patriarch.^  Christianity  and  Ma- 
gianism  had  long  been  foes  and  the  former  might 
well  rejoice  in  the  other's  discomfiture  by  a  new 
monotheistic  faith. 

Add  to  all  these  the  fact  that  Mesopotamia  had 
for  generations  been  the  battle  field  of  the  two 
great  empires  and  that  the  great  Christian  cities, 
such  as  Edessa,  Amid,  and  Nisibis,  had  passed 
through  siege  after  siege,  and  it  is  no  wonder 
that  the  Christians  welcomed  the  advent  of  Islam. 
The  historian  of  the  Jews  tells  us  that  they,  too, 
welcomed  the  release  from  Roman  and  Persian 
rule.^  The  Nestorian  patriarch  just  after  the 
Arab  conquest  is  very  explicit  in  his  testimony 
as  to  the  toleration  practiced  by  the  Arabs.  He 
says,  writing  to  the  Christians  of  Persia,  "  The 
Arabs,  to  whom  God  has  given  the  authority  of 
the  world  at  this  time,  are  with  us,  as  you  know, 
and  are  not  only  not  opposed  to  Christianity,  but 
they  praise  our  faith  and  honor  the  priests  and 
saints  of  Our  Lord  and  aid  the  churches  and  mon- 

1  Thomas  of  Marga,  i.  Ixxiv-lxxvi,  ii.  208 ;  Bar  Hebrgeus, 
Ec.  Chron.,  iii.  95-101. 

*  Graetz,  Hist,  of  the  Jews,  iii.,  ch.  iv. 


MUHAMMADAN  GOVERNMENT  111 

asterics."  He  adds,  however,  that  at  Merv  this  tol- 
eration was  to  be  secured  by  the  loss  of  half  their 
worldly  goods. ^  Thomas  of  Marga  in  his  Mon- 
astic Chrojiicle  makes  no  reference  whatever  to 
the  conquest,  showing  how  retired  was  the  life 
of  the  monastery  of  Beth  Abhe,  not  a  hundred 
miles  from  Mosul  and  also  how  little  the  outly- 
ing districts  were  affected  by  it.  Bar  Hebraeus, 
though  he  wrote  much  later,  no  doubt  reflects 
the  sentiments  of  earlier  writers  when  he  con- 
trasts the  Arab  with  the  Roman  rule,  to  the  dis- 
advantage of  the  latter.  His  words  are  as  fol- 
lows :  "  On  this  account  [i.  c.^  the  persecutions  of 
Heraclius)  the  God  of  vengeance  by  means  of 
the  Ishmaelites  delivered  us  from  the  hands  of 
the  Romans.  However,  our  churches  {i.  e., 
Jacobite  churches  seized  by  the  emperor)  were 
not  returned  to  us,  because  under  Arab  domina- 
tion each  sect  retained  whatever  was  found  in  its 
possession.  Nevertheless  we  were  better  off  for 
being  freed  from  the  cruelty  of  the  Romans  and 
from  their  bitter  hatred  to  us."  -  One  cannot  but 
bewail  the  shortsightedness  of  the  Christians  and 
execrate  the  cruel  folly  of  the  emperors,  but  it  is 

1  Thomas  of  Marga,  ii.  156.     Ass.  B.  O.  Ill,  i,  I28ff. 

2  Bar  H.,  Ec.  Chron,  p.  474,  (ed.  Abbeloos  and  Lamy). 


112    ISLA3I  AND    THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

also  abundantly  clear  that  the  favorable  verdict 
on  the  first  Arabs  was  not  altogether  undeserved. 
As  one  reads  of  the  barbarities  of  other  conquer- 
ors and  the  untold  sufferings  that  have  devastated 
Asia,  this  feeling  of  admiration  for  the  Arabs 
and  their  great  leaders  is  increased. 

The  conquest  proved  to  be  one  of  the  greatest 
and  most  permanent  revolutions  in  history  and 
resulted  in  a  reorganization  of  society,  but  many 
of  the  changes  were  gradual.  In  many  things 
the  status  quo  was  maintained.  In  Syria  gov- 
ernmental positions  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
Christians,  of  course,  and  the  Umayyad 
Khahfas  wisely  made  use  of  their  services. 
When  the  fanatical  Umar  II  attempted  to  re- 
move them  from  public  service  it  was  to  the 
detriment  of  the  state.  Apparently  at  first  the 
accounts  were  kept  in  Greek,  for  Bar  Hebraeus 
says  that  Walid  directed  that  Arabic  should  be 
substituted  for  Greek ;  or  m  Persian  and  Greek, 
for  Abd  al  Malik  displaced  the  former  language 
by  Arabic.^  The  earliest  coins  of  the  Arabs 
illustrate  the  conditions.  One  of  Khalid, 
Umar's  great  general,  is  inscribed  in  Greek,  has 

•Bar  Hebi-ffius,  Syr.  Chron.,  115;  Muir,  Caliphate,  353; 
Miiller,  Islam  iin  Alorgen  und  Abendland,  i,  395. 


MUHA3IMADAN  G0VERN3IENT  113 

the  portrait  of  the  emperor,  and  is  embelhshed 
with  crosses.  Another  of  Musa,  the  conqueror 
of  Africa,  bears  the  cross  and  Roman  letters. 
One  of  Muawiya  has  the  Hkeness  of  the  last 
Khusru  with  the  fire  altar  and  priests,  the  in- 
scription being  partly  in  Persian  and  partly  in 
Arabic.^  Similarly  the  Christians  in  Sassanian 
times  had  attained  eminence  in  the  court  as 
physicians,  and  under  the  Arabs  they  maintained 
and  increased  their  prestige  in  this  regard.  The 
principle  of  recognizing  the  law  and  dignitaries 
of  the  separate  religious  communities  and  so  to  a 
certain  extent  their  autonomy  was  a  part  of 
Sassanian  policy  and  went  over  into  the  Arab 
period.  The  principle  of  toleration  was  too 
firmly  embedded  in  the  law  of  Muhammad  and 
the  policy  of  Umar  to  be  dependent  on  the  will 
of  the  monarch.  Details  and  minor  regulations 
were  so  dependent  and  conditions  varied  ac- 
cordingly. The  right  of  worship  was  guaranteed 
and  respected,  the  only  limitation  being  the  pro- 
hibition of  bells,  of  the  loud  sounding  of  the 
naqusha}  and  of  street  processions.  Even  these 
would  apply  mainly  to  the  cities,  and  the  Chris- 

•  See  engravings  in  Miiller,  i.  276,  349,  422. 

3  Board  of  hard  wood,  usually  walnut,  struck  with  a  mallet. 


114    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

tians  living  in  country  villages  separated  from 
the  Muhammadan  population  would  be  free. 
The  rights  of  church  property  were  protected 
and  the  monastic  establishments  were  not  dis- 
turbed. The  building  of  new  churches  was 
under  special  restrictions.  In  the  traditional 
code  of  Umar  it  is  forbidden,  new  churches  were 
torn  down  by  the  more  fanatical  Khalifas,  and 
the  notices  in  the  Syriac  chronicles  seem  to  indi- 
cate that  permission  was  regarded  as  something 
extraordinary  and  worthy  of  remark.'  Schools  and 
literature  do  not  appear  to  have  been  interfered 
with.  However,  the  restriction  of  literature  is  a 
result  of  modern  conditions  and  does  not  belong 
to  the  age  of  manuscripts.* 

In  general  the  right  of  the  church  to  regulate 
its  own  affairs  was  respected.  In  one  important 
respect  it  was  allowed  a  wider  application  than 
would  be  permitted  in  European  civilization. 
The  Muhammadan,  and  in  general  the  oriental, 

'Arnold  {Preaching-  of  Is  la  ?n,  58f.)  thinks  that  this  regula- 
tion was  not  usually  enforced ;  but  the  evidence  points  rather 
the  other  way,  though  it  shows  that  exceptions  were  not  in- 
frequent. 

2  See  Thomas  of  Marga,  Bk.  iii.,  ch.  ii.  One  monk  es- 
tablished sixty  schools.  In  the  single  diocese  of  Marga,  (near 
Mosu)  twenty-six  names  are  given. 


MUHAMBIADAN  G0VERN3IENT  115 

conception  of  religion  includes  within  its  sphere 
matters  that  in  the  West  would  be  amenable  to 
the  civil  law.  Thus  all  questions  relating  to  the 
marriage  contract  belong  to  religious  and  not  to 
civil  jurisdiction,  and  the  same  is  true  largely  of 
inheritance,  even  as  regards  the  Christian  and 
Jewish  communities.  Theoretically  in  Islam  it- 
self there  is  no  distinction  between  civil  and 
religious  law,  and  the  codes  of  canon  law  of  the 
oriental  churches  are  very  broad  in  their  scope. 
One  result  of  this  state  of  things  is  to  give  to 
the  separate  religious  communities  a  corporate 
character  unrecognized  in  the  West  and  to  the 
heads  of  those  communities  a  political  as  well 
as  a  religious  importance.  The  Jewish  Resh 
Galutha,  or  Exiliarch,  and  the  Nestorian 
Patriarch  had  long  been  powerful  political  per- 
sonages, and  the  latter  was  recognized  by  the 
Khalifas  as  in  some  sense  the  head  of  the  whole 
Christian  comnmnity  and  not  simply  of  the 
membership  of  his  own  church.  Finally,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  tenth  Christian  century  the 
Nestorian  patriarch  secured  from  the  Khalifa  the 
exclusive  right  over  the  Jacobite  Maphriana  and 
Greek   Metropolitan  to   reside  in  Baghdad,  the 


116    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

Others  being  permitted  only  to  visit  there  for  a 
limited  time.^ 

Under  these  circumstances  one  can  see  that 
the  requirement  that  the  patriarch  should  receive 
investiture  at  the  hands  of  the  Khalifa  was  a 
reasonable  regulation,  prompted  rather  by  the 
necessities  of  effective  civil  administration  than 
by  any  desire  to  interfere  in  ecclesiastical  affairs. 
It  is  possible  that  Bar  Hebraeus  is  right  in  the 
statement  that  it  was  not  until  a.  d.  987  (a.  h. 
377)  that  it  was  a  fixed  regulation  for  the  patri- 
archs to  obtain  from  the  Khalifa  firmans 
recognizing  their  election,  but  in  principle  the 
practice  was  much  older.^  In  the  time  of 
Marwan  (a.  d.  683)  the  Jacobite  patriarch  ob- 
tained a  diploma  from  the  Khalifa,  and  from 
very  early  times,  in  both  the  Nestorian  and  the 
Jacobite  churches,  the  voice  of  the  Khalifa  was 
decisive  in  cases  of  disputed  succession.^  Bar 
HebrsEus  tells  of  a  case  in  which  the  Khalifa 
Mamun  extended  the  limits  of  toleration  beyond 
what  seemed  desirable  to  the  Christians  them- 
selves.    A   quarrel   among  the  Jews  as  to  the 

1  Bar  Hebrjeus,  Ec.  C/iron.,  iii.  237f.  The  decision  was  re- 
affirmed A.  D.  1003,  lb.  27 iff. 

^  Bar  HebrKus,  Ec.  Chron.,  iii.  255. 

3  See  Appendix,  The  Khalifas  and  the  Patriarchs. 


MUHA3I3IADAN  G0VERN3IENT  117 

Resh  Galutha  had  occasioned  an  edict  that  any 
ten  persons,  Jews,  Christians,  or  Magians,  might 
associate  themselves  together  and  choose  a  head. 
Soon  after,  the  Jacobite  bishop  of  Baghdad  was 
subjected  to  discipHne  by  his  patriarch,  but  sup- 
ported by  part  of  his  flock  he  refused  to  submit. 
The  case  went  before  the  KhaHfa  and  the  patri- 
arch himself  came  to  Baghdad  to  support  his 
right  to  exercise  discipline  and  to  protest  against 
the  edict  as  being  subversive  of  the  authority  of 
the  church.  After  some  discussion  the  Khalifa  ac- 
cepted the  patriarch's  view  of  the  case,  directed  that 
his  discipline  be  enforced,  and  revoked  the  edict.' 
Under  these  circumstances,  the  Christians 
shared  in  the  general  fortune  of  the  country, 
good  and  bad,  perhaps  having  more  than  their 
proportionate  share  of  the  wealth,  on  account  of 
their  higher  culture  and  the  superiority  of  Chris- 
tianity in  safeguarding  the  family  and  in  spite 
of  the  heavier  burdens  of  taxation  that  they  bore 
and  their  lower  position  before  the  law.  At  any 
rate  there  were  wealthy  men  among  them  and 
the  church  in  its  corporate  capacity  was  possessed 
of  wealth.  A  physician  in  the  court  of  Harun  ar 
Rashid  is  said  to  have  had  a  professional  income 

•  Bar  Hebraeus,  Ec.  Chrott.,  iii.  255. 


118    ISLAM  AND   TEE  ORIENTAL   CHUBCHE8 

annually  of  280,000  dirhams,  equal  to  ;^35,000, 
and  an  income  from  his  property  of  800,000  dir- 
hams, or  ^100,000.  A  contemporary  describes 
a  visit  to  him  and  tells  how  he  found  him  on  a 
hot  summer  day  in  a  finely  carpeted  and  orna- 
mented room,  warmly  dressed  in  the  most  costly 
stuffs  and  how  his  wonder  at  the  unseasonable- 
ness  of  his  apparel  was  dissipated  when  he  sat 
down  and  found  himself  in  a  cold  draft  from  a 
hidden  room  filled  with  ice.  Another  time  in 
the  winter  he  found  him  dressed  in  cool  summer 
clothes  seated  in  a  green  house,  like  a  garden 
in  extent.^  The  goldsmiths,  jewelers,  money- 
changers, and  bankers  were  almost  invariably 
Christians  and  Jews.^  In  the  country  districts 
there  were  Christians  among  the  wealthy  land- 
lord class,  the  Persian  diJikans  and  sJiahrigans, 
powerful  before  the  advent  of  Islam  and  also  af- 
terwards. One  of  this  class  is  said  to  have  given 
his  portion  in  the  feudal  ownership  of  villages 
to  the  monastery  of  Beth  Ahbe.^ 

I  Von  Kremer,  Culturgeschichte,\\.  lygff.  He  estimates  the 
dirham  as  equal  to  a  franc.  Budge  [Thomas  of  Marga^  ii. 
403)  gives  the  value  at  sixpence,  and  this  lower  value  has  been 
followed. 

'  Von  Kremer,  Culturgeschichte,  ii.  l85f. 

3  Thomas  of  Marga,  ii.  i8o,  256,  282,  309ff.,  330ff.,  and  fre- 
quently. 


MUHAMMADAN  GOVERNMENT  119 

A  glimpse  of  landed  property  belonging  to  the 
church  is  the  mention  of  the  act  of  the  Khalifa 
in  returning  to  the  Nestorian  patriarch  the  vil- 
lages belonging  to  the  see  that  had  been  taken 
possession  of  by  the  vizier.  Similarly  in  later 
Mongol  times  there  were  villages  near  Maragha 
that  belonged  to  the  patriarchate.^  A  melan- 
choly exhibition  of  the  wealth  of  the  church  and 
the  large  income  of  the  ecclesiastics  is  found  in 
the  immense  sums  paid  as  bribes  to  the  Muslim 
authorities  for  aid  in  securing  the  election  of  the 
patriarchate.  In  a.  d.  961  (a.  h.  350)  a  certain 
Nestorian  physician,  Pithion  by  name,  is  said  to 
have  offered  the  vizier  300,000  dirhams  {$Z7r 
500)  if  he  would  secure  the  patriarchate  for  him. 
The  bishops  were  unwilling  to  have  him  as  patri- 
arch and  finally  effected  the  enthronement  of  an- 
other elected  by  themselves  by  paying  1 30,000 
dirhams  (^16,250).  This  sum  was  paid  by  selling 
the  church  plate  in  order  not  to  reveal  the  treas- 
ure left  by  the  defunct  patriarch,  said  to  amount 
to  70,000  dinars  in  gold  and  600,000  dirhams  in 
sih^er  (^250,000).  Still  more  incredible  is  the 
amount,  45,000  gold  dinars  (;^i  12,500),  said  to 
have  been  promised  the  Khalifa  just  before  the 

•Bar  Hebrseus,  Ec.  Chron.,  ii.  215  ;  Mar  Jabalaha,  113. 


120     ISLAM  AND   TEE  ORIENTAL  CHURCHES 

advent  of  the  Mongols  (a.  d.  1256)  in  the  course 
of  a  prolonged  rivalry  over  the  Nestorian  patri- 
archal succession.  Of  the  patriarch  Mari  (a.  d. 
987,  A.  H.  '^'jy)  Bar  Hebrseus  says  that  •'  when  he 
first  occupied  the  patriarchal  chair  he  found  in 
the  treasury  not  the  value  of  a  single  dirham,  but 
he  amassed  an  abundance  and  he  bought  for  the 
see  large  properties,  villages,  etc.,  and  built  fine 
buildings  onto  the  church  and  the  residence  of 
the  patriarch."  Other  patriarchs  are  said  to  have 
left  large  amounts  of  wealth.  ^ 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  wealth  of 
Asia  flowed  into  Baghdad  for  generations,  that 
the  court  was  one  of  the  most  magnificent  and 
lavish  in  history,  and  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city  would  all  share  to  some  extent  in  the  gen- 
eral prosperity  ;  but  with  all  allowance  it  is  more 
than  likely  that  the  Christians  were  more  prosper- 
ous than  most  of  the  subjects  of  the  Khalifa.  Two 
classes  were  particularly  prominent,  the  physi- 
cians and  the  officials  of  lawyers.  Throughout 
the  whole  history  from  pre-Islamic  times  till  the 
times  of  the  Mongols  we  read  of  the  Christian 
court  physicians,  men  of  great  wealth  and  influ- 

>  Von  Kremer,  Culturgeschichte,  ii.  192 ;  Bar  Hebr^us,  Ec. 
CAron.,  iii.  249f,,  423f.,  255f. 


MUnAM3IADAN  GOVERNMENT  121 

ence ;  and  besides  those  whose  names  are  pre- 
served because  of  their  special  relation  to  the 
Khalifas  or  their  services  to  learning,  there  must 
have  been  a  multitude  of  others  who  were  suc- 
cessful in  a  less  conspicuous  way.  Reference 
has  been  made  to  the  employment  of  Christians 
in  the  financial  and  clerical  departments  of  gov- 
ernment employ.  They  were  more  rarely  em- 
ployed in  administrative  positions  and  sometimes 
as  envoys  to  Christian  powers. 

In  spite  of  so  much  that  can  justly  be  said  to 
illustrate  the  degree  of  prosperity  enjoyed  by 
the  Christians  under  Arab  rule,  there  was  no 
such  thing  as  equality,  either  in  religious  or  in 
civil  affairs.  To  abandon  Islam  for  Christianity 
was  treason  and  punishable  as  such :  to  abandon 
Christianity  for  Islam  brought  privilege  and  par- 
don for  past  offenses.  In  civil  affairs  the 
Christians  were  obliged  to  pay  a  special  tax 
and  were  subjected  to  other  vexatious  dis- 
abilities. The  acceptance  of  Islam  by  any 
one  resulted  in  the  disinheriting  of  all  non- 
Muslim  heirs.  It  is  no  valid  defense  to  say  that 
such  regulations  were  due  not  to  "  religious 
exclusiveness "  but  to  "  political  necessity,"  for 


122     ISLAM  AND    THE  ORIENTAL    CHURCHES 

religion  and  politics  were  inseparable.^  The 
theory  of  Umar,  by  which  the  MusHms  were  all 
supported  from  the  treasury  and  the  non-Muslims 
paid  the  taxes  and  tilled  the  soil,  broke  down  of 
necessity,  but  not  until  the  conversion  of  non- 
Muslims  to  escape  the  burdens  of  taxation  had 
to  be  forbidden  in  order  to  maintain  the  income 
of  the  state.  The  poll  tax  remained  as  a  special 
tax  on  the  non-MusHms.  It  may  be  said  that 
^  this  was  in  lieu  of  military  service ;  but  the  early 
Arabs  certainly  looked  on  military  service  as  a 
privilege  rather  than  a  burden.  It  is  so  regarded 
to-day  in  the  East,  wherever  there  is  no  standing 
army  and  where  the  status  of  soldier  brings 
special  privileges. 

The  regulations  that  required  Christians  to 
wear  clothing  that  would  distinguish  them  from 
others,  prohibited  their  riding  horses,  and  im- 
posed other  marks  of  inferiority  were  no  doubt 
only  occasionally  and  locally  enforced,  but  their 
existence  is  evidence  of  the  feeling  that  Muslims 
and  non-Muslims  were  separate  and  unequal 
castes.  Occasionally  this  feeling  broke  out  into 
active  persecution,  as  in  the  destruction  of  newly- 

^  For  the  law  and  the  defense  of  it,  see  Syed  Ameer  Ali,  Mo- 
ha?nmedan  Law,  ii.  85,  96,  121. 


MUHABIMADAN  GOVERmiENT  123 

built  churches  by  Mahdi,  Harun  ar  Rashid,  and 
Mutasim  and  in  the  more  general  vexations  of 
Mutawakkil,  enforcing  the  regulations  of  the  so- 
called  Constitution  of  Umar.^  Fanatical  hatred 
of  the  Christians  increased  with  the  passage  of 
the  years  and  as  early  as  a.  d.  837  a  Christian 
bishop  describes  the  sleepless  and  tearful  nights 
that  he  passed  on  account  of  the  growing  hatred 
of  the  Arabs  toward  the  Christians,  due,  it  is 
likely,  to  the  orthodox  reaction  that  followed  the 
liberal  regime  of  Mamun.^  Destruction  of  prop- 
erty and  attacks  on  the  persons  of  Christians 
become  more  frequent  as  the  history  progresses, 
and  testify  alike  to  the  weakening  of  the  govern- 
ment and  the  increase  of  popular  fanaticism.^ 
The  legal  status  of  the  non-Muslims,  or  Dhim- 
mis  (Zimmis)  was  worse  in  some  respects  than 
their  actual  condition  and  many  of  the  privileges 
that  they  had  were  due  to  the  favor  of  the  rulers  or 
to  the  services  they  rendered  society  rather  than 
to  the  guarantees  of  law.'*     The  employment  of 

'  Muir,  Caliphate,  52iff.,377  ;  Von  'K.r&meXjCultitrgesckichte, 
ii.  167  ;  Bar  Hebroeus,  Syr.  Chron.,  1 18,  126,  146,  155. 

"^  Bar  Hebrseus,  Ec.  Chron.,  i.  383. 

3  See  Appendix,  Riots  against  Christians. 

*  See  Hughes,  Dictionary  of  Islam,  s.  v.  Zimmi ;  Sell,  Essays 
on  Islafti^  The  Status  of  the  Zimmis. 


124     ISLA3I  AND   THE   ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

Christians  in  the  court  was  reconciled  with  their 
subject  condition  by  the  fact  that  their  services 
were  largely  of  a  personal  nature.  While  the 
court  physician  was  brought  into  intimate  and 
confidential  relations  with  the  Khalifa,  he  was 
his  personal  servant  and  his  office  gave  him 
no  authority  over  a  single  Muslim.  The  same  is 
to  be  said  in  very  large  measure  of  the  account- 
ants, the  secretaries,  and  the  clerks  employed  in 
government  offices.  In  Turkey  and  Persia  at 
the  present  time  hundreds  of  Christians  are  em- 
ployed in  similar  positions,  but  they  are  never- 
theless on  a  lower  legal  plane  than  the  Muslims. 
There  are  cases  now  and  have  been  in  the  past 
in  which  Muslim  rulers  have  employed  Christians 
as  envoys  to  Christian  states.  The  Sassanians 
sent  Nestorian  bishops  on  embassies  to  Constan- 
tinople and  the  Khalifa  sent  a  Jacobite  bishop 
to  the  Georgians  to  negotiate  the  release  of 
Muslim  captives.^  The  cases  in  which  Christians 
were  placed  in  positions  that  gave  them  rule  over 
Muslims  were  certainly  very  rare  indeed.'^     A 

1  Bar  Hebrseus,  Ec.  Chron.,  iii.  353  ;  Dionysius,  Jacobite 
Patriarch,  was  sent  by  Mamun  (A.  D.  829)  as  envoy  to  rebellious 
Christians  in  Upper  Egypt,  Ibid.,  373. 

2  The  only  case  given  by  Arnold  is  that  of  the  prime  minis- 
ter of  a  Buwayhid  prince  in  Persia  (A.  D.  949-982). 


MUHAMMADAN  GOVERNMENT  125 

certain  liberal  governor  was  accused  to  the 
Khalifa  of  partiality  to  the  Christians  and  de- 
fended himself  as  follows,  "  I  have  appointed 
no  Christian  governors,  except  Umar  ibn 
Yusuf,  whom  I  appointed  governor  of  Anbar 
(a  city  with  large  Christian  population)  and 
except  over  the  Jews  and  Magians  of  Jahabad, 
and  in  these  cases  not  because  of  partiality  but 
because  of  their  faithfulness."  The  act  required 
a  special  defense.  ^ 

The  Mongol  conquerors  at  first  were  neither 
MusHms  nor  Christians,  but  Shamamists.  Jingis 
counseled  his  sons  "  to  tolerate  all  creeds,  telling 
them  that  it  mattered  little  to  the  Divinity  how 
they  honored  him  " ;  but  his  code  of  laws  was 
scarcely  tolerant,  forbidding  for  superstitious 
reasons  washing  the  hands  in  running  water  or 
washing  in  any  way  cooking  or  domestic  vessels.^ 
He  and  his  first  successors  were  tolerant  in  all 
religious  matters,  not  on  principle  opposed  to 
persecution,  but  not  caring  enough  for  the  sub- 
ject to  persecute.  Their  attitude  scarcely  affects 
our  subject,  at  least  before  the  acceptance  of 
Islam  by  them.     The  Christians  were  for  a  time 

'  Assemani,  Bibl.  Orientalis,  iii.  i,  216. 
*  Ho  worth,  History  of  Mongols,  i.  III. 


126    ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

raised  to  a  precarious  equality  with  the  Mushms, 
and  in  some  respects  were  more  favorably  re- 
garded. Some  of  the  high  officials  were 
Mongols  of  tribes  that  had  accepted  Christianity 
long  before,  and  in  the  royal  harem  a  favorite 
wife  often  helped  the  Christians. 

With  reference  to  the  church  the  Mongol 
<^rulers  in  Persia  exercised  the  same  right  of  in- 
vestiture that  had  belonged  to  the  Khalifa.  Bar 
Hebraeus,  who  as  Maphriana  or  Exarch  of  the 
Jacobite  Church  was  in  charge  of  affairs  in  the 
East  for  his  church,  has  left  a  picturesque  account 
of  a  visit  paid  by  him  to  Hulagu  Khan  in  com- 
pany with  his  patriarch.  A  dissension  had  arisen 
over  the  election  of  the  patriarch  and  both  par- 
ties, the  patriarch-elect  with  his  supporters  and 
the  dissident  bishops,  set  out  on  the  long  journey 
from  Cilicia  to  the  Mongol  court  in  or  near 
Maragha  in  Persia.  Arriving  there,  the  patriarch 
and  Bar  Hebrseus  (who  had  gone  from  Maragha 
as  far  as  Erzingan  in  Armenia  to  meet  his  su- 
perior) found  their  admission  to  the  court  pre- 
vented by  an  order  that  forbade  the  reception  of 
monks,  the  reason  being  that  an  Armenian  monk 
had  been  caught  stealing  in  the  court.  Fortu- 
nately this  order  had  prevented  the  other  party 


MUHAMMADAN  GOVERNMENT  127 

from  seeing  "  the  king  of  kings,"  and  the  versa- 
tile bishop  found  admittance  as  physician  though 
as  a  monk  he  was  shut  out.  Later  he  secured  an 
audience  for  himself  and  the  patriarch  with  the 
great  Khan  and  the  desired  papers  were  given, 
while  Hulagu  graciously  told  how  his  ancestor, 
Jingis  Khan,  had  been  instructed  by  men 
such  as  they  in  the  fear  of  God  and  right 
laws.^ 

This  story  illustrates  the  precarious  favor  the 
Christians  enjoyed  in  the  barbarous  court  of  the 
conquerors.  This  is  shown  still  more  vividly  in 
the  life  of  the  Nestorian  patriarch,  Mar  Yahbha- 
laha,  a  younger  contemporary  of  Bar  Hebraeus. 
Raised  to  the  patriarchate  because  of  his  Turkish 
descent  and  familiarity  with  Mongol  customs,  he 
received  the  insignia  of  authority,  the  parasol 
and  royal  tablet,  from  Abaqa,  one  of  the  most  fa- 
vorable of  all  to  Christianity,  who  also  granted  the 
church  a  fixed  stipend.  The  next  ruler,  Ahmad, 
was  favorable  to  Islam  and  the  patriarch's  position 
was  exceedingly  difficult  and  he  was  imprisoned 
for  some  time.  This  short  reign  was  followed  by  a 
longer  period  of  favor,  especially  under  Arghun, 
who  employed  the  patriarch's  special  friend  as 
1  Bar  Hebraeus,  Ec.  Chron.,  ii.  753ff. 


128     ISLAM  AND    THE   ORIENTAL    CHURCHES 

his  envoy  to  Europe,  and  marked  honor  was 
shown  and  large  gifts  were  given  to  the  church 
by  the  king.  Then  under  Ghazan  and  his  suc- 
cessors Islam  became  supreme  and  between  the 
efforts  of  revengeful  courtiers  and  the  hatred  of 
the  populace  the  patriarch  was  repeatedly  in 
danger  of  his  life  and  the  church  was  stripped 
of  its  wealth  and  favor.  The  legal  status  reverted 
to  that  which  had  obtained  under  the  earlier 
Muslim  rulers,  but  with  new  influences  that  made 
the  condition  of  the  Christians  far  more  intoler- 
able than  before.  The  crusades  had  left  a  legacy 
of  hatred  toward  Christians.  Turks  and  Mongols, 
fierce  and  barbarous,  had  completely  displaced 
the  Arabs.  The  fickle  favor  of  the  Mongols  was 
most  disastrous,  for  the  Armenians  and  Georgians 
had  been  their  active  allies  in  their  wars  with  the 
Muslim  rulers  of  Mesopotamia  and  especially  of 
Egypt.  We  shall  have  to  return  later  to  this 
aspect  of  the  subject.  It  is  useless  to  speak  of 
governmental  relations  in  the  anarchies  of  the 
fourteenth  Christian  century,  which  closed  in  the 
desolation  and  ruin  wrought  by  Tamerlane. 
When  order  again  emerged  from  chaos  the  rem- 
nants of  the  two  great  Syrian  churches  were 
again  the  subjects  of  Muslim  rulers,  under  con- 


MUHABIMADAN  GOVERNMENT  129 

ditions  theoretically  the  same  as  those  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Khalifa. 

The  moral  effect  on  church  life  and  govern- 
ment was  most  serious.  In  the  first  place,  the 
limitation  of  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  and 
the  acceptance  of  that  limitation  was  a  surrender 
of  an  essential  characteristic  not  only  of  Chris- 
tianity but  of  all  truth.  This  phase  of  the  subject 
will  be  referred  to  again,  but  another  demands 
fuller  consideration  now.  It  has  been  pointed 
out  that  the  heads  of  the  church  were  semi- 
political  officials,  exercising  a  certain  amount  of 
authority  in  affairs  not  properly  spiritual  and  de-  \ 
pendent  on  the  recognition  of  the  Muslim  gov- 
ernment in  order  to  enjoy  the  full  exercise  of  their 
functions.  This  had  most  demoralizing  effects 
on  the  church.  The  qualification  for  the  highest 
offices  in  the  church  was  political  ability  rather 
than  spiritual  character.  The  conditions  and 
duties  of  the  episcopal  office,  especially  in  its 
higher  grades,  developed  astuteness  and  craft. 
The  position  of  the  Khalifa  as  the  court  of  high-  ' 
est  appeal  in  matters  connected  with  the  election 
of  the  patriarch  wrought  great  mischief.  Bribery 
figured  in  the  elections  to  a  fearful  extent.  The 
Syriac   histories    are    full    of  illustrations  of  all 


130     ISLAM  AND    THE   ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

these  points.  The  beginnings  of  the  interfer- 
ence of  the  government  in  the  election  of  patri- 
archs and  of  the  intrigues  on  the  part  of  the 
Christians  are  in  the  Sassanian  period.  Even 
then  the  Christian  court  physicians  played  an 
active  part.  Both  of  the  Khusrus  exerted  their 
influence  to  secure  the  election  of  their  favorites, 
and  the  opposition  of  the  church  to  such  inter- 
ference in  both  these  reigns,  as  on  later  occa- 
sions, is  marked  by  interregna  in  the  succes- 
sion. 

In  the  time  of  the  third  Khalifa,  Uthman,  we 
read  that  the  Nestorian  patriarch  George  was 
imprisoned  by  the  Arab  governor  of  Kufa  on 
the  complaint  of  his  enemies,  in  order  to  extort 
money  from  him.^  The  Umayyad  Khahfa  Abd 
al  Malik,  or  perhaps  his  viceroy  in  the  East, 
Hajaj,  first  imprisoned  the  Nestorian  patriarch 
Khnanishu  on  account  of  an  impolitic  remark  in 
regard  to  Islam  and  finally  enabled  a  rival,  John 
the  metropolitan  of  Nisibis,  to  supplant  him. 
The  power  of  the  latter  was  short  lived,  for  on 
failing  to  pay  the  promised  bribe  to  Hajaj,  he 
was  imprisoned  and  Khnanishu  resumed  office.^ 

1  Bar  Hebrseus,  Ec.  Chron.,  iii.  131. 

'Bar  Hebrseus,  Ec.  Chron.,  iii.  1318".,  138,  note  2. 


3IUHAMMADAN  G0VEKN3IENT  131 

A  story  of  Mansur  illustrates  the  lengths  to 
which  the  Khalifas  sometimes  went,  the  arbitrari- 
ness of  their  acts,  and  the  character,  good  and 
bad,  of  the  Christians  themselves.  Through  the 
machinations  of  Surin,  who  had  occupied  the 
Nestorian  patriarchal  seat  for  a  few  months  by- 
force  of  the  Khalifa's  soldiers,  the  Nestorian, 
Jacobite,  and  Greek  patriarchs  were  all  impris- 
oned at  Baghdad.  One  of  the  principal  plotters 
against  them,  a  physician,  Isa  by  name,  at- 
tempted to  make  use  of  his  position  to  black- 
mail other  dignitaries  of  the  church  and  so  wrote 
to  the  Nestorian  metropolitan  of  Nisibis  that  the 
Khalifa  had  heard  of  the  costly  plate  belonging 
to  his  church  and  desired  to  have  it  brought  to 
him  in  order  that  he  might  select  such  articles 
for  himself  as  he  should  desire,  Isa  also  inti- 
mated that  for  a  consideration  he  could  avert  this 
calamity.  The  bishop  Cyprian  had  the  courage 
to  go  to  court  and,  armed  with  the  letter  of 
Isa,  obtained  an  audience  with  the  Khalifa.  The 
latter  was  so  enraged  at  the  presumption  of  Isa 
that  he  confiscated  all  his  property  and  released 
the  imprisoned  ecclesiastics.  They  had,  how- 
ever, spent  nine  years  in  confinement. 

The  effect  of  such  an  episode  on  church  affairs 


132     ISLAM  AND    THE   ORIENTAL    CHURCHES 

can  be  imagined.'  The  next  Nestorian  patriarch 
owed  his  position  to  the  fact  that  he  rephed  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  Khahfa  Mahdi  to  the  ques- 
tion as  to  the  kind  of  tree  from  which  Moses' 
rod  had  been  cut,  while  his  rival  frankly  ad- 
mitted his  ignorance.^  Then  came  Timothy,  one 
of  the  greatest  of  the  Nestorian  patriarchs,  who  for 
fifty  years  guided  the  fortunes  of  a  church  whose 
dioceses  extended  from  the  shores  of  the  Medi- 
terranean to  the  confines  of  China  and  at  the 
same  time  was  a  successful  courtier  in  the  reigns 
of  five  great  Khalifas,  Mahdi,  Hadhi,  Rashid, 
Amin  and  Mamun.  It  is  said  that  he  owed  his 
election  to  the  influence  of  the  governor  of 
Mosul  and  of  his  Christian  secretary,  Abu  Nuh, 
and  to  the  money  bags  that  were  displayed  to 
the  Nestorian  lawyers.  These  were  supposed  to 
contain  gold  and  silver,  but  after  his  consecration 
nothing  was  found  in  them  but  copper  coin.^ 
Instance  after  instance  might  be  given  from 
Sassanian  to  Mongol  times  in  which  bribes  were 
given,  the  court  physicians   or  the  lawyers  in- 

1  Bar  Hebraeus,  £c.  Chron.,  iii.  I35f. 

*  Thomas  of  Marga,  ii.  379. 

3  Thomas  of  Marga,  ii.  383.  A  similar  story  of  a  thirteenth 
century  Jacobite  patriarch  is  given  in  Bar  Hebraeus,  Ec.  Chron,, 
ii.  651. 


MVHA3IMADAN  GOVERNMENT  133 

trigued,  and  even  the  armed  forces  of  the  Khah- 
fas  intervened.^  As  the  power  of  the  Khahfas 
dwindled  and  that  of  their  viziers  increased  the 
Nestorians  intrigued  with  the  latter ;  while  the 
Jacobite  patriarch  living  farther  west  depended 
on  the  favor  of  the  various  dynasties  that  rose 
and  fell,  Seljuks,  Ayubits,  and  even  Crusaders 
being  the  recipients  of  their  bribes.  Schisms 
were  not  infrequently  made  by  rivals  for  the 
patriarchate,  and  among  the  Jacobites  one  such 
division  was  prolonged  because  the  church  was 
partly  under  the  rule  of  the  Crusaders  and  partly 
under  that  of  the  Muslim  Emirs  of  Mesopotamia. 
The  great  lesson  of  this  history  lies  not  in  the  ter- 
rors of  persecution  but  in  the  far  more  subtle  and 
ruinous  effects  of  toleration,  when  it  involves  the 
compromise  of  principles  on  the  part  of  the 
church  and  brings  it  into  relation  with  a  corrupt 
political  power.  Christianity  was  given  safety 
at  the  price  of  abstaining  from  proselyting  from 
the  dominant  faith  and  accepted  a  relation  to  the 
Muslim  government  that  subjected  the  heads  of 
the  church  to  constant  temptation  to  unworthy 
subservience  and  intrigue.  We  often  read  of 
the  corruption  of  Christianity  through  its  rela- 
'  See  Appendix,  Bribery. 


134    ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

tion  to  Christian  governments,  beginning  with 
Constantine  the  Great ;  but  our  study  shows  the 
same  tendency  for  the  church  to  become  secular- 
ized through  its  relation  to  a  non-Christian  gov- 
ernment. One  of  the  difficult  things  in  mission- 
ary work  is  to  maintain  friendly  relations  with 
such  governments  on  the  proper  basis  of  their 
gratitude  for  the  benefits  to  society  accruing 
from  the  work  and  of  common  treaty  rights  but 
without  compromising  principle.  It  is  a  still 
greater  temptation  to  feeble  communities  of  na- 
tive Christians  to  accept  as  inevitable  the  restric- 
tions to  the  exercise  of  the  missionary  spirit  and 
to  limit  not  merely  their  activities  but  their  sym- 
pathies also  by  the  scanty  concessions  of  an  un- 
friendly government. 

History  shows  how  difficult  is  the  question  of 
the  political  status  of  missions  and  native  Chris- 
tians under  Muslim  governments.  It  shows  that 
conditions  vary  greatly  according  to  the  charac- 
ter of  the  ruler  and  the  temper  of  the  people.  It 
shows  also  that  the  legal  status  of  Christians  so 
far  as  their  right  to  worship  is  concerned  is  in- 
disputable. It  shows  also  that  toleration  is  con- 
ditioned on  the  acceptance  of  an  inferior  status 
and  that  this  is  the  fundamental  law  of  Islam, 


MUHAMMAD  AN   GOVERNMENT  135 

going  back  to  the  Prophet  and  never  changed. 
It  illustrates  the  menace  of  mob  violence,  directly- 
proportionate  to  the  weakness  of  the  govern- 
ment and  increasing  with  time,  which  to-day  is 
an  ever-present  danger  to  the  oriental  Christians 
living  in  Persia  and  Turkey.  It  makes  it  very 
clear  that  Islam  has  been  unable  successfully  to 
guarantee  the  rights  granted  by  its  own  constitu- 
tion to  other  religions.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how 
religious  freedom  can  be  granted  and  maintained 
by  a  Muslim  monarch,  without  virtually  renounc- 
ing the  example  of  his  Prophet  and  the  whole  past 
of  his  religion.  Christianity  has  been  intolerant 
during  most  of  its  history,  but  the  Master  founded 
a  kingdom  not  of  this  world  and  at  last  Christen- 
dom is  beginning  to  learn  his  charity.  Islam  has 
been  more  consistent  in  its  history.  Muhammad 
compromised  on  the  basis  of  limited  toleration  and 
his  compromise  has  lasted  throughout  the  cen- 
turies, varying  in  application  but  not  in  essential 
idea.  This  characteristic  of  compromise  marks 
all  the  relations  of  Islam  to  Christianity.  It 
seems  to  yield,  but  it  never  yields,  the  supremacy. 
Honor  is  given  to  Christianity,  but  Islam  is  the 
final  faith.  Christ  is  exalted,  but  his  last  coming 
will  only  prepare  the  way  for  Muhammad's  tri- 


136    ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

umph.  The  Bible  is  praised  and  its  circulation 
is  permitted.  The  direct  persecution  of  Chris- 
tians is  contrary  to  the  law  of  Islam  and  has  but 
little  precedent  in  its  history ;  but  the  idea  of  re- 
ligious equality  before  the  law  is  foreign  to  the 
system.  Hence  Islam  is  misjudged — sometimes 
denounced  as  a  bloody  persecutor  and  sometimes 
extolled  as  a  patron  of  freedom.  Neither  is  true 
and  neither  can  be,  so  long  as  the  supreme  au- 
thority of  Muhammad  is  acknowledged. 

This  history  is  an  illustration  of  the  general 
fact  of  the  importance  of  bringing  our  arguments 
against  other  religions  into  strict  conformity  with 
the  facts,  and  of  allowing  to  them  every  conces- 
sion that  generosity  as  well  as  truth  requires.  It 
is  weakness  to  denounce  Islam  as  a  persecuting 
power  in  the  usual  sense  of  the  words  and  to 
parade  the  acts  of  exceptional  monarchs  as  truly 
representative  of  the  faith.  It  is  right  and  wise 
to  admit  that  the  early  Muslims  were  more  tol- 
erant than  their  Christian  contemporaries,  and 
that  the  history  of  Christian  Europe  contains  the 
annals  of  more  relentless  religious  persecution 
than  the  history  of  Western  Asia  since  the  rise 
of  Islam.  But  after  all  this  has  been  admitted, 
it  must  also  be  remembered  that  what  was  an  ad- 


MUHAMMADAN  G0VEBN3IENT  137 

vance  in  the  seventh  century  is  a  hopeless  bar- 
rier in  the  twentieth,  and  that  active  persecution 
in  its  very  nature  must  run  its  course  and  cease, 
while  toleration  is  capable  of  permanency  and  is 
for  that  very  reason  far  more  dangerous.  The 
strong  argument  is  the  true  argument,  and  Islam 
is  condemned  most  conclusively  by  the  fairest 
judgment. 


Fourth  Lecture 
THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS 


Difficulty  of  the  subject.  Some  conditions  of  the  expansion. 
Character  of  the  Muslim  propaganda.  Divisions  of  the  sub- 
ject. Converts  to  Christianity  from  Islam  and  Christian  apolo- 
gies. The  Syriac-speaking  peoples.  Failure  of  Islam  to  gain 
them,  proselytes  from  them  to  Islam.  The  Iranians.  Extent 
of  Christianity  among  them,  extension  after  rise  of  Islam,  means 
of  extension,  Nestorian  monasticism  and  monastic  missions, 
failure  of  Christianity  to  vi^in  the  Iranians,  Muslim  propaganda 
and  success.  The  Turks  and  Mongols.  Christianity  in  China, 
Uighurs,  Keraits,  means  of  extension,  character  of  the  Chris- 
tians, failure  of  Christianity,  propaganda  and  success  of  Islam. 
The  relation  of  Muslim  missions  to  political  movements.  Esti- 
mate of  the  Nestorian  missions.  Religious  and  national  move- 
ments. 


Fourth  Lecture 

THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS 

The  topic  of  the  expansion  of  Christianity  and 
Islam  in  Western  Asia  is  a  vast  one,  extending 
over  a  long  period  of  time  and  a  broad  expanse 
of  territory,  dealing  with  the  dark  ages  and  un- 
explored wilds,  of  Central  Asia.  That  the  Nes- 
torian  Church  was  a  great  missionary  church  is  a 
vague  commonplace  of  hterature,  but  one  seeks 
in  vain  for  an  account  of  its  missions.  The  fact 
that  Asia  is  Muhammadan  from  the  Mediterra- 
nean to  the  borders  of  China  is  patent  to  all,  but 
very  few  have  any  intelligent  idea  when  and  how 
these  millions  of  Asiatics  accepted  Muhammad 
as  their  Prophet.  Most,  probably,  regard  the 
sword  as  the  instrument  that  converted  these  vast 
regions  to  Islam ;  but  the  truth  is  that  in  some 
cases  the  religious  dominion  of  Muhammad  pre- 
ceded the  armies,  while  in  other  cases  conversion 
lagged  long  behind  political  conquest.  Our  own 
age  is  proving  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  downfall 
of  Muhammadan  governments  is  not  followed  by 
141 


142    ISLASr  AND   THE   ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

the  abandonment  of  Islam.  It  is  difficult  to  as- 
certain the  facts  of  the  history.  The  missionary 
operations  of  both  faiths  were  desultory,  local, 
often  the  result  of  individual  effort  rather  than 
corporate  activity,  and  subsidiary  to  political  and 
commercial  movements.  Apart  from  the  state, 
Islam  has  no  formal  organization,  and  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  oriental  churches  was  lax.  The 
darvish  orders  of  Islam  and  the  monastic  orders 
of  Christianity  were  very  loosely  connected  with 
the  acknowledged  religious  organization.  Con- 
sequently the  records  of  the  Khalifat  and  of  the 
Patriarchates  alike  refer  only  incidentally  to  con- 
versions from  other  faiths. 

In  forming  an  estimate  of  the  fundamental  con- 
ceptions that  determine  the  character  of  the  mis- 
sionary operations  of  Islam  we  must  go  back  to 
the  origins.  Muhammad  founded  a  religion  and 
a  state,  not  as  two  cooperating  bodies  but  as  two 
expressions  of  the  same  force.  He  preached 
Islam  in  Mecca  and  in  Medina  and  through  others 
all  over  Arabia.  His  followers  have  preached  it 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Apologies  and  argu- 
ments for  the  faith  have  been  composed  and  pub- 
lished. Christian  missionaries  are  sometimes 
earnestly  invited  to  accept  Islam  for  themselves. 


TEE  EXPANSION  OF  TEE  FAITES         143 

As  soon  as  opportunity  offered,  Muhammad  es- 
tablished a  state ;  and  the  spread  of  his  rehgion 
and  the  extension  of  his  poHtical  authority  were 
identical.  To  quote  the  modern  apologetic  his- 
torian of  The  Preaching  of  Islam,  "  Muhammad 
exercised  temporal  authority  over  his  people  just 
as  any  other  independent  chief  might  have  done, 
the  only  difference  being  that  in  the  case  of  the 
Muslims  a  religious  bond  took  the  place  of  family 
and  blood  ties.  Islam  thus  became  what,  in 
theory  at  least,  it  has  always  remained — a 
political  as  well  as  a  religious  system."  ^  One 
consequence  of  this  was  that  fighting  for  the 
state  became  not  merely  a  patriotic  but  a  reli- 
gious duty. 

Moreover,  in  the  first  preaching  of  Islam  the 
option  offered  was  the  Quran  or  the  sword,  or 
else  the  Quran,  tribute,  or  the  sword.  Arnold, 
the  author  just  quoted,  attempts  to  prove  that 
the  doctrine  of  Jihad,  the  Holy  War,  in  the  sense 
taught  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  doctors  of 
Islam,  "  is  wholly  unauthorized  by  the  Quran," 
and  maintains  that  it  is  due  to  them  that  it  "  came 
to  be  interpreted  as  a  religious  war  waged  against 
unbelievers,  who  might  be  attacked  even  though 
1  Preaching  of  Islam,  27. 


144    ISLA3r  AND   THE  ORIENTAL  CHURCHES 

they  were  not  the  aggressors."  ^  The  point  is 
one  of  academic  interest,  for  practically  from  the 
earliest  times,  indeed  from  the  time  of  Muham- 
mad, war  has  had  the  sanction  of  religion  placed 
upon  it  and  the  refusal  of  the  Arabs,  Christian  or 
heathen,  to  accept  Islam  or  pay  the  tribute  was 
sufficient  casus  belli.  War  is  a  missionary 
method  of  Islam,  not  the  only  but  an  authorized 
means  of  spreading  the  faith  and  the  state.  To 
Christians  and  Jews  and  usually  to  others  the 
third  alternative  of  tribute  was  offered.  Hence 
forced  conversion  was  not  the  method  used  with 
them  for  the  spread  of  Islam.  To  the  heathen 
Arabs  no  alternative  was  offered  to  the  Quran 
but  the  sword ;  and  with  other  heathen  the  legal 
proceeding  would  have  been  the  same  as  with  the 
Arabs,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have  been  fol- 
lowed. The  motives  that  attracted  converts  to 
Islam  were  very  mixed  from  the  beginning.  The 
Arabs  were  led  by  the  force  of  newborn  national 
zeal  as  well  as  by  the  promise  of  rich  booty  to 
join  the  armies  and  accept  the  creed  of  Islam. 
The  conditions  cannot  be  more  tersely  put  in 
the  following  tradition :   "  A  Christian  followed 

1  Preaching  of  Islam,  Appendix  I.     See  also  Sell,  Faith  of 
Islam,  Appendix  B. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF   THE  FAITHS  145 

the  Prophet  and  said, '  I  wish  to  go  with  you  to 
fight  and  to  get  a  share  in  the  spoil.'  The 
Prophet  said,  '  Dost  thou  believe  in  God  and 
in  his  Prophet?  '  •  No,'  he  repUed.  *  Retire,  for 
I  cannot  accept  the  aid  of  a  polytheist.'  Three 
times  the  man's  appHcation  was  refused,  but  at 
last  he  confessed  his  faith  in  Islam  and  was  al- 
lowed to  join  the  expedition."  *  Afterwards  un- 
der Muslim  government  there  was  always  ready 
for  the  new  convert  rehef  from  taxation,  a  place, 
of  special  privilege  in  comparison  with  his  former 
coreligionists,  and  in  case  of  need  amnesty  for 
crimes  committed.  No  doubt  these  rewards,  as 
is  the  case  to-day,  were  made  to  glitter  as 
brightly  as  possible  in  the  eyes  of  the  possible 
proselyte,  even  though  the  gilt  tarnished  later 
and  riches  took  their  flight.^  According  to  Al 
Kindi  the  Khalifa  Mamun  spoke  thus  of  some  of 
his  courtiers,  "  They  belong  to  a  class  who  em- 
brace Islam,  not  from  any  love  of  this  our  reli- 


'  Sell,  Essays  on  Islam,  p.  193. 

2  One  meets  not  infrequently  to-day  in  Persia  apostates  to 
Islam  reduced  to  poverty  and  bitterly  regretting  the  irrevoca- 
ble step  they  took.  According  to  Bar  Hebrsus  {^Ec.  Chron. 
iii,  287f.),  Ignatius,  an  apostate  Jacobite  Maphriana,  ended  his 
days  as  a  beggar  and  left  behind  him  a  penitential  hymn.  See 
Appendix,  Apostasy  to  Islam. 


146     ISLAM  AND    THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

gion,  but  thinking  thereby  to  gain  access  to  my 
court  and  share  in  the  honor,  wealth,  and  power 
of  the  realm ;  they  have  no  inner  persuasion 
of  that  which  they  outwardly  profess."  ^  Beyond 
the  bounds  of  Muslim  government,  such  re- 
wards could  not  be  offered  and  the  convert  from 
the  Mongols  or  the  Turks,  except  those  who 
were  under  Muslim  rule,  probably  neither  lost 
nor  gained  by  his  change  of  faith.  There  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  conversion  to  Islam  in  the 
face  of  persecution.^  It  is  hardly  necessary  to 
draw  the  obvious  contrast  between  the  beginnings 
of  Christianity  and  those  of  Islam. 

It  is,  no  doubt,  fortunate  for  the  cause  of  lib- 
erty that  the  first  Christians  had  to  propagate  the 
new  faith  in  the  face  of  social  and  political  oppo- 
sition. While  in  Europe  political  motives  aided 
in  the  extension  of  Christianity ;  such  has  seldom 
been  the  case  in  Asia  outside  the  bounds  of  the 
Roman  empire  and  perhaps  the  precarious  king- 
doms of  the  Armenians  and  Georgians.  Christi- 
anity progressed  after  the  rise  of  Islam  by  means 

1  Muir,  Al  Kindy,  p.  xii. 

**  The  only  possible  exception  to  this  statement  would  be  con- 
versions to  Islam  in  the  time  of  Mongol  Emperors  unfriendly 
to  Islam.  But  all  the  Mongol  emperors  had  Muslim  troops  and 
allies,  and  only  Arghun  dismissed  high  Muslim  officials. 


THE  EXPANSION   OF   THE  FAITHS  147 

of  preaching,  personal  influence,  example,  and 
(in  the  estimation  of  the  Christians),  by  miracles. 
Aided  by  the  looseness  of  government,  it  was 
propagated  in  out-of-the-way  and  remote  dis- 
tricts. In  the  chronicles  of  Thomas  of  Marga 
one  reads  of  heathen  in  the  mountains  within  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  Mosul,  to  whom  the 
gospel  was  preached,  showing  how  little  Islam  had 
extended  at  that  early  time  outside  of  the  cities 
and  how  in  country  places  there  was  still  an  op- 
portunity for  Christian  propaganda.^ 

The  main  lines  of  the  extension  of  the  faiths 
were  racial.  The  conversion  of  Arabia  to  Islam 
and  the  disappearance  of  Arab  Christianity  may 
here  be  passed  over,  and  the  three  great  races 
of  Arameans,  Iranians,  and  Turanians  be  con- 
sidered. These  terms  are  broad  and  somewhat 
indefinite,  but  are  sufficiently  accurate  for  our 
purposes.  Perhaps  it  would  be  more  accurate 
to  make  the  distinction  one  of  language  than 
race.  The  three  languages  are  Syriac,  Persian, 
and  Turkish.  Arabic  was  the  sacred  language 
of  Islam  and  went  wherever  Islam  went,  but  it 
has  not  become  the  vernacular  of  either  Persians 
or  Turks.     Syriac  has  been  displaced  very  largely 

'  Thomas  of  Marga,  Bk.  Ill,  Ch.  3.    Also  ii.  653. 


148     ISLAM  AND    THE   ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

as  a  vernacular  by  the  Arabic,  but  has  always 
been  the  ecclesiastical  and  usually  the  literary 
language  of  the  Jacobite  and  Nestorian  Churches. 
With  Persian  must  be  grouped  Kurdish  and 
various  dialects  spoken  in  Persia.  The  Mongol 
language  was  displaced  by  the  Turkish  and  even 
in  early  times  a  dialect  of  Turkish  (the  Uighur) 
appears  to  have  been  the  written  language  for 
the  Mongols.^  Before  taking  up  these  main  di- 
visions it  seems  best  to  consider  separately  efforts 
on  the  part  of  the  Christians  to  convert  Muham- 
madans  and  to  present  and  defend  before  them 
their  faith. 

References  in  the  Syriac  literature  to  converts 
from  Islam  to  Christianity  are  very  scanty  indeed. 
Bar  Hebrseus  relates  that  some  of  the  prisoners 
taken  from  the  Arabs  by  the  Byzantines  were 
baptized  and  afterwards  preferred  to  remain  Chris- 
tians to  returning  to  their  old  hbmes  and  faith, 
just  as  at  a  later  time  prisoners  taken  from  the 
Crusaders  are  said  to  have  accepted  Islam.^ 
More  remarkable  is  the  story  of  Arabs  in  the 
region  of  Nisibis  who  in  the  tenth  century  emi- 

'  The  racial  and  linguistic  distinction  between  Mongols  and 
Turks  seems  to  have  been  of  no  historical  importance.  They 
coalesced  rapidly  and  easily. 

^  Bar  Hebrseus,  Chron.  Syr.,  159, 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  149 

grated  in  large  numbers  to  Byzantine  territory  in 
order  to  escape  the  oppressions  of  their  own 
rulers  and  accepted  the  religion  of  their  new 
homes.^  One  other  instance  is  found  of  a  Muslim, 
who  is  said  to  have  been  converted  by  the  mi- 
raculous vision  of  a  lamb  in  a  Christian  church 
at  the  time  of  the  Eucharist.  He  was  impris- 
oned by  the  Khalifa  Harun  ur  Rashid  and  after 
two  years  was  executed,  a  martyr  to  his  faith.'^ 
There  seems  to  have  been  less  strictness  in  re- 
gard to  those  who  had  once  been  Christians,  as  is 
shown  by  the  canons  requiring  the  reordination 
of  repentant  renegades ;  and  a  few  instances  are 
found  in  which  such  persons  are  mentioned  by 
name.  Generally,  however,  they  fled  to  lands 
under  Christian  rule.^  The  apology  of  Al  Kindi 
shows  that  the  Khalifa  Mamun  permitted  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  relative  merits  of  the  two  religions, 
but  his  court  was  notoriously  liberal  and  fond  of 
religious  discussion.  About  the  same  time  the 
patriarch  Timothy  is  said  to  have  explained  to 
every  one  of  the  five  Khalifas  under  whom  he 
lived  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  and  to  have 

'Von  Kremer,  Culttirgeschichte,  ii.  495. 
^  Bar  Hebraeus,  Syr.  Chron.,  132. 
3  See  Appendix,  Apostates  to  Islam. 


150    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

left  a  written  account  of  his  disputations  with 
Mahdi ;  but  this  is  the  safest  kind  of  missionary- 
work,  for  the  position  of  the  inquirer  secured 
him  from  annoyance.  A  few  other  instances  of 
Christian  apologetics  are  mentioned  in  history, 
and  there  may  have  been  isolated  cases  of  con- 
versions.^ They  were,  at  all  events,  few ;  liberty 
was  never  granted  Muslims  to  change  their  faith, 
and  there  was  little  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
Christians  to  secure  conversions. 

At  the  time  of  the  rise  of  Islam  Christianity 
was  dominant  among  the  peoples  speaking 
Greek,  Armenian,  and  Syriac,  and  these  peoples 
are  still  Christian.  We  are,  perhaps,  apt  to  for- 
get this  failure  of  Islam,  the  failure  to  attract  and 
convert  peoples  who  have  lived  for  twelve  and  a 
half  centuries  under  Muslim  rule,  accessible  to 
the  efforts  of  Muhammadan  teachers,  with  ma- 
terial gain  on  the  side  of  Islam ;  and  yet  to-day 
they  are  more  averse  to  Islam  than  ever.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  point  out  any  similar  failure 
of  Christianity  in  its  whole  history.  It  is  signifi- 
cant that  the  nations  that  possessed  in  their  own 
language  the  Scriptures  and  the  church  liturgies, 
and  that  had  a  national  church  and  so  were  not 
'  Appendix,  Christian  Apologetics. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  151 

required  to  become  members  of  a  more  or  less 
alien  church,  have  persisted  in  their  Christianity, 
while  others  not  so  favored  have  lapsed.  The 
Armenian  Church  is  intensely  national  and  with 
this  nation  patriotic  aspirations  have  united  with 
religious  zeal  to  hold  them  fast.  The  Nestorian 
and  Jacobite  Churches  have  been  less  intensely 
national  and  have  never  had  a  political  center  to 
which  they  might  rally.  The  Syriac-speaking 
people  has  not  been  military  and  long  ages  ago 
lost  national  aspirations,  except  such  as  are  satis- 
fied by  the  church  and  by  literature.  There  were 
members  of  both  these  churches  belonging  to 
the  Iranian  race,  as  well  as  to  the  races  of  Central 
Asia  and  of  India,  but  Syriac  was  always  and 
everywhere  the  ecclesiastical  language,  and  the 
rulers  of  the  church  were  usually  Arameans. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  careful  observers  that  a 
portion  of  the  Muhammadan  population  of  the 
Turkish  empire  are  the  descendants  of  Christian 
ancestors,  Greek,  Armenian,  and  Syrian.^  The 
evidence  for  this  is  largely  inferential,  and  history 
furnishes  little  direct  testimony  of  such  changes 
of  faith,  except  in  the  case  of  individuals.     The 

'  Hogarth,  Nearer  East,  176;  Ramsay,  Impressions  of  Tur- 
key,  96. 


152    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

largest  numbers  doubtless  accepted  Islam  under 
the  first  Umayyids.  The  apology  of  Al  Kindi 
speaks  with  bitterness  of  the  apostates  to  Islam, 
implying  that  they  were  heretical  Christians  with 
half-heathenish  ideas,  or  that  they  were  impelled 
by  unworthy  motives,  but  there  is  nothing  to 
indicate  that  their  number  was  large.  The  occa- 
sional storms  of  persecution  that  broke  the  truce 
of  toleration  drove  some  to  abandon  Christian- 
ity. This  is  said  to  have  been  the  case  when 
Mansur  imprisoned  the  patriarchs  of  the  three 
sects.  On  another  occasion  Mahdi,  angered  by 
the  sight  of  large  numbers  of  Christians  in  Aleppo 
riding  on  horses,  is  said  to  have  ordered  them  to 
accept  Islam,  which  was  done  by  five  thousand 
persons.^  There  was  also  a  stream  of  conver- 
sions, if  we  may  apply  that  name  to  such  cases, 
of  Christians  who  became  Muslim  in  order  to 
escape  punishment  or  for  gain.  Among  these 
there  were  not  a  few  clergy  of  the  lower  ranks, 
as  is  indicated  by  the  canons  regarding  reordina- 
tion  of  such  apostates,  and  a  number  of  bishops, 
and  even  one  Jacobite  Maphriana  and  at  a  later 
period  two  Jacobite  patriarchs.  The  Christian 
writers  assign  immorality  as  the  cause  in  most  of 
'  Bar  Hebiaeus,  Syr.  Chron.,  127. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  153 

these  instances,  and  there  is  no  sufficient  reason 
to  doubt  the  statement  in  many  cases  at  least.^ 

Two  stories  in  Bar  Hebraeus  may  be  quoted  to 
illustrate  the  incidents  that  would  often  be  con- 
nected with  "  conversions."  They  are  such  as 
would  be  frequent  whenever  the  country  was  dis- 
turbed and  rare  when  the  government  was  strong, 
and  might  easily  be  paralleled  by  modern  in- 
stances. One  is  that  of  a  girl  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Mosul  in  the  twelfth  century  (a.  d.  i  159) 
who  was  betrothed  to  a  Christian.  Her  father, 
born  a  Christian,  had  apostatized  to  Islam,  the 
rest  of  the  family  keeping  their  faith,  and  in  con- 
sequence opposition  was  made  by  the  Muslims  to 
her  marriage  to  a  Christian.  The  Maphriana 
who  authorized  the  marriage  ceremony  was  ar- 
rested and  the  girl  of  course  was  brought  before 
the  authorities.  She  persisted  in  the  profession 
of  faith  in  Christianity.  Finally  her  firmness 
and  that  of  the  Maphriana,  who  was  in  prison 
for  forty  days,  won  the  day  so  far  that  she  was 
not  compelled  to  accept  Islam,  but  she  could 
not  remain  in  her  home  and  ended  her  days  as  a 

•  Arnold  discredits  the  charge  of  immorality,  but  the  easy 
way  for  an  immoral  bishop  under  discipline  to  escape  trouble 
would  be  apostasy. 


154     ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL    CHURCHES 

nun  in  Jerusalem.^  The  other  case  is  that  of  a 
company  of  armed  men  in  Armenia,  who,  being 
caught  up  with  by  a  band  of  MusHm  bandits, 
feared  for  their  hves  and  in  order  to  secure  their 
safety  declared  that  they  were  on  their  way  to 
the  court  in  order  to  profess  their  faith  in  Islam, 
thinking  that  they  would  make  their  escape  with- 
out fulfilling  the  promise.  They  were,  however, 
forced  by  the  circumstances  and  by  the  avowal 
of  their  intention  to  go  to  an  Emir  and  were 
taken  by  him  into  his  military  service  and  treated 
with  great  favor.  After  a  time  they  escaped  and 
resumed  their  former  religion.^  A  similar  and 
frequent  occasion  of  change  of  rehgion,  as  to- 
day, was  the  persuasion  of  girls  to  marry  Muslim 
husbands,  or  in  troublous  times  their  abduction. 
Theoretically  a  Christian  woman  married  to  a 
Muslim  husband  is  not  required  to  renounce  her 
faith,  but  practically  such  a  marriage  must  have 
that  result,  and  in  any  case  the  children  are 
Muslim.  Muslim  tradition  also  claims  the  con- 
version of  large  numbers  of  Christians  and  the 
adherents  of  other  religions  as  the  results  of 
the  efforts  of  the  great  doctors  of  Islam,  twenty 

•  Bar  Hebrseus,  £c.  CAron.,  iii.  347ff. 
2  Bar  Ilebrasus,  Chron.  Syr.,  244. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  155 

thousand  each  being  ascribed  to  Ibn  Hanbal  and 
another  teacher.  The  Christian  chroniclers  make 
no  reference  to  such  occurrences,  but  that  per- 
haps is  not  sufficient  reason  to  reject  them  alto- 
gether.^ All  of  these  causes  for  the  acceptance 
of  Islam  by  Christians  are  not  sufficient  to  ac- 
count for  the  great  diminution  in  the  number  of 
Nestorian  and  Jacobite  Christians,  and  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  they  would  more  than  balance 
the  natural  increase  of  population  in  times  of 
peace.  Why  these  churches  have  almost  disap- 
peared we  shall  see  later. 

Christianity  at  the  time  of  the  Arab  conquest 
had  a  firm  hold  in  certain  parts  of  Persia.  In 
Southern  Persia,  Khuzistan  was  one  of  the  most 
powerful  metropolitan  sees  of  the  Nestorian 
Church,  no  doubt  in  part  because  of  its  proximity 
to  Ctesiphon,  Other  proofs  exist  of  the  large 
number  of  Christians  in  Khuzistan.  In  the  time 
of  Ali  (A.  H.  40)  Christian  mountaineers  of  this 
region  are  said  to  have  joined  with  the  Kharijites 
in  rebellion.  On  their  defeat  the  number  of 
Christian  captives  taken  into  slavery  was  five 
hundred.  It  is  evident  from  this  that  Christianity 
had  gained  a  hold  on  the  common  people  of  the 

1  Arnold,  Preaching  of  Islam,  65. 


156     ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL    CHURCHES 

country.^  The  adjoining  metropolitan  see  of 
Persia  or  Fars  was  also  ancient.  The  Patriarch 
Ishuyabh  III  (a.  d.  660)  writes  of  the  large 
number  of  apostates  in  that  region  to  Islam  in 
his  time.  Christianity  had  before  Muhammad's 
time  reached  India  and  bishoprics  had  been 
founded  on  the  borders  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  in 
the  islands,  on  the  Arabian  coast,  and  in  Kir- 
man.2  Khurasan  contained  a  considerable  Chris- 
tian population,  as  is  shown  by  the  letters  of 
Ishuyabh.  Here  the  metropolitan  see  of  Merv 
was  older  than  the  time  of  Islam  and  long  re- 
mained powerful  in  the  Nestorian  Church.  Bar 
Hebraeus  states  that  shortly  before  the  rise  of 
Islam  the  Jacobite  sees  of  Khurasan,  Seistan,  and 
Azarbaijan  were  established.^  A  Nestorian  met- 
ropolitan of  Samarkand,  a  far  eastern  outpost  of 
Iranian  population,  was  appointed  early  in  the 
eighth  century.  Other  sees  that  are  mentioned 
were  those  of  Yezd,  Ispahan,  and  Shiraz  in  South 
Persia ;  Hamadan  and  Rhai  in  Central  Persia ; 
Urumia  and  Ushnuk  in  Northern  Persia;  Barda 
in  Georgia ;  and  Dailom  and  Ghilan  along  the 

'  Muir,  Caliphate,  292. 

2  These  and  other  Nestorian  bishoprics  are  mentioned  by  Bar 
Hebrosus,  Thomas  of  Marga,  and  Assemani. 
•'Bar  Ilebroeus,  Ec.  Ckrou.,  iii.  127. 

/ 


THE  EXPANSION  OF   THE  FAITHS  157 

Caspian.  This  list  is  not  exhaustive,  and  out- 
side the  specifically  Persian  sees  there  were  Ira- 
nian Christians  in  the  dioceses  of  Assyria  and  the 
region  about  Baghdad. 

The  history  of  Christianity  in  the  Sassanian 
empire  shows  that  there  had  been  a  very  active 
and  successful  propaganda  among  the  Iranians. 
We  read  of  Christians  among  the  landlord  class 
about  Mosul  and  in  the  mountain  region  east  of 
that  city.  Some  of  the  Christians  were  of  high 
rank.  The  last  Khusru  was  killed  in  an  insur- 
rection headed  by  one  of  them,  whose  father 
had  been  the  chief  financial  officer  of  the  realm. ^ 
Some  of  the  patriarchs  of  the  Nestorian  Church 
were  converts  from  Magianism  or  the  sons  of 
such  converts.  While  thus  widespread,  the  Chris- 
tians were  not  organized  into  a  national  Per- 
sian Church.  There  were  certain  differences  be- 
tween the  Persian  Nestorians  and  those  farther 
west  and  there  were  the  beginnings  of  ecclesias- 
tical independence,  but  the  patriarchs  asserted 
their  authority  in  the  end.  Syriac  was  the  eccle- 
siastical and  theological  language  and  there  was 
at  most  in  Persia  a  very  scanty  Christian  litera- 
ture, and  the  Scriptures  had  not  been  translated 

'  Thotnas  of  JSIarga,  ii.  112. 


158     ISLAM  AND    THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

into  the  vernacular.^  It  is  clear  that  Christianity- 
was  widely  spread  in  Persia,  that  in  some  locali- 
ties the  numbers  of  Christians  were  considerable, 
and  that  it  continued  to  spread  after  the  rise  of 
Islam. 

Two  forces  had  much  to  do  with  that  spread. 
One  was  commerce  and  the  other  monasticism. 
From  times  before  Islam  Christian  merchants  had 
a  share  in  the  wholesale  trade  of  Asia.  Trade 
with  India  opened  the  way  for  the  early  intro- 
duction of  Christianity  there.  The  hold  Chris- 
tianity had  along  the  Persian  Gulf  was  probably 
connected  with  this  trade  route  and  those  into 
Arabia.  The  strong  rule  of  the  early  Abbasid 
Khalifas  gave  trade  the  opportunity  to  develop. 
The  position  of  the  Christians  in  the  capital  as 
bankers  and  merchants  would  lead  them  to  share 
in  the  trade.  Artisans,  and  the  goldsmiths  and 
jewelers  who  were  Christians,  would  find  employ- 
ment in  the  large  cities.  In  those  days  there 
were  no  doubt  settlements  of  Christian  merchants 
and  artisans  in  the  cities,  just  as  to-day  there  are 
Armenians   in   every  large   city  in    Persia   and 

1  Bar  Hebraeus,  Ec.  Chron.,  iii.  i69f.  The  principal  differ- 
ence was  that  the  bishops  were  from  the  married  and  not  from 
the  celibate  clergy. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  159 

Chaldean  merchants  from  Mosul  and  Baghdad 
in  many  of  them.  The  clergy  would  follow  the 
merchants  in  order  to  supply  them  with  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  church,  and  so  episcopal  dioceses 
would  be  established.'  In  the  account  of  the 
missions  of  the  Nestorian  monks,  Thomas  of 
Marga  relates  that  the  patriarch  Timothy  sent 
his  missionary  to  Mughan  on  the  Aras  river  in 
the  company  of  merchants.  ^ 

Monasticism  was  imported  into  Mesopotamia 
in  the  fourth  century  by  monks  from  Egypt. 
The  legendary  account  of  Mar  Awgin,  or  St.  Eu- 
genius,  tells  that  his  monastery  near  Nisibis  con- 
tained three  hundred  and  fifty  monks,  while 
seventy-two  of  his  disciples  each  established  a 
monastery.  The  number  of  monasteries  increased 
rapidly  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries.  In  the 
sixth  century  there  was  a  movement  in  the  Nes- 
torian church  against  the  enforced  celibacy  of  the 
higher  clergy  and  against  celibate  monks.  Celi- 
bacy, however,  won  the  day  and  monasticism 
was  firmly  established.  The  monks  must  have 
been  numbered  by  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  for 

*  An  earlier  instance  of  non-Iranian  Christians  in  Persia  is 
that  of  the  colonists  settled  in  Khurasan  by  Anushirvan.  Bar 
Hebraeus,  Ec.  Chron.,  iii.  125. 

2  Thomas  of  Marga,  ii,  506. 


16U     JSLA3I  AND   TEE  OBIENTAL   CHURCHES 

in  addition  to  the  numerous  monasteries  in  Meso- 
potamia and  in  the  regions  north  of  the  Tigris, 
there  were  scattered  monasteries  in  Persia  and 
Armenia.  Besides  the  monks  hving  in  com- 
munities there  were  numerous  sohtaries  Hving  in 
caves  or  rude  huts.  These  were  influential 
enough  among  the  Qatrayi  on  the  Persian  Gulf 
to  call  for  a  separate  letter  from  the  patriarch 
Ishuyabh,^  Some  of  these  monks  must  have 
burned  with  real  missionary  zeal,  but  the  prevail- 
ing spirit  of  the  institution  was  not  missionary. 
Quiet  of  the  mind  and  repression  of  the  body 
were  the  two  great  aims  of  their  life.  The  first 
canon  of  Mar  Abraham  the  Great,  accepted 
generally  by  the  monks  of  the  Nestorian  Church 
begins  as  follows, "  First  of  all  a  life  of  tranquillity 
according  to  the  command  of  the  Fathers  and 
according  to  the  word  of  the  Apostle  which 
he  spake  to  the  Thessalonians."  This  is  more 
picturesquely  illustrated  by  the  following  story : 
"  Once  when  Abba  Arsenius  went  to  visit  the 
brethren  in  a  certain  place  the  wind  whistled 
through  the  reeds  which  grew  there  and  he  said, 
'  What  is  this  noise  ? '  and  they  said,  '  It  is  the 
reeds  shaken  by  the  wind.'  And  he  said,  '  Ver- 
1  Ibid.,  i68. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  161 

ily,  I  say  to  you,  if  a  man  dwelling  in  a  solitude 
heareth  only  the  chirp  of  a  sparrow,  his  heart  can- 
not find  that  solitude  which  it  requireth ;  how 
much  less  can  ye  who  have  all  this  noise  of  these 
reeds  ? ' " 

One  of  the  saints  most  approved  by  Thomas 
of  Marga  is  a  bishop  who  was  carried  captive  by 
the  nomad  Arabs  and  contentedly  spent  his  life 
as  their  camel-herd,  because,  as  he  said,  "  I  have 
determined  that  this  work  is  the  will  of  our  Lord, 
and  also  that  it  does  not  in  any  way  separate  me 
from  a  life  of  purity,  and  I  am  not  brought  in 
contact  with  the  Arabs,  but  am  alone  by  myself 
in  the  desert.  I  praise  God  continually."  ^ 
There  is  no  indication  that  he  was  impelled  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  these  Arabs.  Similarly  the 
monks  of  Beth  Abhe  successfully  resisted  the  pa- 
triarch in  an  attempt  to  establish  a  school  in  con- 
nection with  their  monastery,  on  the  ground  that 
the  boys  would  disturb  their  meditations.^  The 
work  of  preaching  to  the  heathen  was  conceived 
of  as  a  hardship,  an  ascetic  exercise,  rather  than 
a  privilege  of  the  gospel.  Accordingly  in  the 
accounts  of  their  work  as  missionaries  great  stress 

'  Thomas  of  Marga,  Book  ii.,  Ch.  41.     The  life  of  Malchus, 
the  captive  monk,  written  by  Jerome,  also  illustrates  this  point. 
2  Ibid,  Bk.  ii,  Ch.  7. 


162    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

is  laid  on  their  self-denying  sufferings  and  on  the 
miracles  they  wrought.  The  monasteries  were 
not  leagued  together  in  orders,  but  each  was  in- 
dependent of  the  others,  ruled  by  its  own  superior 
and  subject  in  some  degree  to  the  higher  episco- 
pal authorities.  Consequently  there  was  nothing 
like  a  concerted  missionary  movement  or  any 
close  control  or  direction  of  such  work.  Another 
result  of  this  is  that  there  were  no  comprehensive 
records  of  such  work.^ 

Thomas  of  Marga,  who  is  referred  to  so  often 
in  these  lectures,  was  the  abbot  of  the  monastery 
of  Beth  Abhe,  sixty  or  seventy  miles  northeast  of 
Mosul.  He  wrote  a  history  of  that  monastery 
from  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  till  the  mid- 
dle of  the  ninth.  In  this  work  he  gives  an  ac- 
count of  the  missionary  work  done  by  the  monks 
of  the  monastery.  In  passing  it  may  be  re- 
marked that  other  monasteries  might  no  doubt 
have  furnished  histories  of  similar  efforts.  The 
regions  in  which  these  monks  of  Beth  Abhe 
preached  the  gospel  were  among  the  most  inac- 
cessible and  barbarous  of  those  inhabited  by  the 

'  For  a  general  account  of  Monasticism  in  the  Nestorian 
Church,  from  which  the  above  facts  are  taken,  see  Thomas  of 
Marga  i,  cxvii  ff. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  163 

Iranians,  a  fact  due  to  the  freedom  in  such  re- 
gions from  interference  from  MusHm  government 
and  to  the  monastic  conception  of  missionary- 
work  as  a  part  of  asceticism.  It  was  altogether 
among  the  pagans  and  not  the  Muhammadans. 
This  missionary  propaganda  occurred  at  about 
the  end  of  the  eighth  century.  The  patriarch 
Timothy  sent  a  monk  named  Shaukhalishu  to 
carry  the  gospel  to  the  regions  of  Ghilan  and 
Dailom  along  the  shores  of  the  Caspian  and  in 
the  adjoining  mountain  regions.  He  was  selected 
because  of  his  knowledge  of  Arabic  and  Persian 
and  was  provided  with  funds  by  the  wealthy 
Christians  so  as  to  make  "  his  entrance  with  ex- 
ceeding great  splendor,  for  barbarian  nations 
need  to  see  a  little  worldly  pomp  and  show  to 
attract  them  and  make  them  draw  nigh  willingly 
to  Christianity."  In  this  one  can  see  the  hand  of 
the  courtier  in  the  Khalifa's  court.  With  him 
were  a  number  of  disciples  and  they  taught, 
preached,  baptized,  and  worked  all  kinds  of  mira- 
cles, turning  to  the  truth  not  heathen  only  but 
also  Manichees  and  Marcionites.^  Finally  he  lost 
his  life  at  the  hands  of  robbers,  and  Timothy  ap- 
pointed two  new  metropolitans,  one  of  Ghilan  and 
*  Or  perhaps  Marcianites,  or  Marcians,  i.  e.,  Euchites. 


164     ISLA31  AND   THE   ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

one  of  Dailom,  sending  with  them  fifteen  assist- 
ants. These  brothers,  Kardagh  and  Yahbhalaha, 
carried  on  the  work  with  great  success,  ordaining 
not  only  priests  but  also  bishops.  The  progress 
in  these  regions  led  to  sending  another  mission- 
ary to  Mughan,  or  Moqan,  along  the  lower  course 
of  the  Aras.  This  was  a  holy  solitary,  ignorant 
of  learning  but  famous  for  the  austerity  of  his 
life  and  appropriately  named  Elijah.  His  fame, 
like  that  of  Boniface  in  far-off  Europe  a  century 
earlier,  was  made  by  hewing  down  a  great  sacred 
tree.  This  was  followed  by  the  conversion  of 
many  heathen  and  by  a  long  career  of  successful 
work.  It  is  difficult  to  separate  fact  and  exag- 
geration in  these  accounts,  although  they  were 
written  only  a  few  years  after  the  events  ;  but  at 
any  rate  there  was  a  successful  pioneer  work  in 
very  difficult  regions.  The  Christianity  taught 
could  not  have  been  better  than  that  of  the  teachers 
and  it  probably  partook  more  of  the  magical  ele- 
ments than  of  those  of  real  spiritual  value.^ 

Another  evidence  of  the  spread  of  Christianity 
among  the  Iranians  is  to  be  found  in  the  tradi- 
tions of  certain  Kurdish  tribes  that  their  ances- 

1  For  the  histories  summarized,  see  Thotnas  of  Marga,  Book 
V,  Chs.  i-xi. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  165 

tors  were  once  Christian,  though  they  do  not  in- 
dicate when  they  were  converted  to  Christianity.^ 

But  in  spite  of  all,  Christianity  failed,  and  Islam 
succeeded  in  gaining  the  Iranian  race.  There 
was  doubtless  the  same  process  of  gradual  and 
individual  conversion  to  Islam  already  described 
with  reference  to  the  Aramean  Christians.  Very 
possibly  there  were  larger  numbers  of  converts 
among  the  newly  converted  and  imperfectly  in- 
structed Christians  of  Persia  than  among  those 
farther  west.  In  the  letters  of  Ishuyabh  soon  after 
the  Arab  conquest,  he  reproaches  the  Christians 
of  Fars  and  of  Khurasan  for  having  accepted  Islam 
in  large  numbers,  partly  in  order  to  avoid  the  loss 
of  property  entailed  by  steadfastness  in  the  faith.^ 

The  first  Arabs  attempted  the  forcible  conver- 
sion of  the  Zoroastrians  to  Islam  and  their  fire 
temples  were  destroyed.  Doubtless  under  this 
stress  numbers  went  over  to  the  new  faith ;  and 

1  This  is  true  of  several  tribes  on  the  border  of  Turkey  and 
Persia  near  Urumia.  In  the  regions  of  Bohtan,  Midyat  and 
Sassun  there  are  Muhammadan  Kurds  who  are  said  by  tradi- 
tion to  have  once  been  Cliristian.  Those  in  Sassun  are  called 
the  "  Cross  deniers." 

^  Thomas  of  Alar/^a,  n.  154.  The  language  used  is  very 
strong  to  the  effect  that  thousands  of  Christians  had  embraced 
Islam  without  any  force  being  laid  on  them  and  that  churches 
were  deserted  because  of  the  apostasy. 


166    ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

the  lower  classes,  especially  the  heretical  sects 
among  the  fire-worshipers,  are  said  to  have  done 
so  gladly.  Finally,  however,  the  Muslims  adopted 
a  more  conciliatory  attitude,  and  toleration  dis- 
placed persecution  in  the  policy  toward  the  re- 
maining fire-worshipers.  The  forces  of  gradual 
and  individual  conversion  along  with  the  exter- 
minating forces  of  anarchy  and  famine  reduced 
the  followers  of  the  old  Persian  faith  to  a  mere 
handful.  Islam  was  strengthened  in  its  influence 
over  the  Persians  by  the  existence  from  early 
times  of  a  strong  Persian  element  within  itself  and 
finally  by  the  evolution  of  a  distinctively  Persian 
type  of  faith  and  doctrine.  It  thus  became  iden- 
tified, as  Christianity  never  was,  with  the  genius 
of  the  race.  Heathenish  ideas  persisted,  how- 
ever, in  the  strange  half-secret  and  very  imper- 
fectly known  sects  that  are  found  in  Persia  even 
to-day.  The  conquering  faith  paid  an  indemnity 
of  war,  and  a  heavy  one,  to  the  conquered. 

The  failure  of  Christianity  is  not  wholly  due  to 
the  success  of  Islam.  In  the  form  and  the  method 
of  Christianity,  as  presented  to  the  Iranians,  there 
was  that  which  made  it  unable  to  accomplish  the 
conquest  of  the  race.  One  great  reason  prob- 
ably was  that  it  was  never  given  sufficient  inde- 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  167 

pendence  to  develop  along  its  own  lines  and  be- 
come really  indigenous.  It  may  also  be  that  the 
dogmatic  character  of  the  Christianity  offered, 
treating  the  great  themes  of  theology  as  closed 
questions,  defined  and  determined,  and  not  as 
great  truths  to  feed  the  intellect  as  well  as  to  be 
the  objects  of  faith,  had  something  to  do  with 
the  failure  to  win  this  race.  It  failed,  and  to-day 
only  a  few  ruined  churches  and  some  others  con- 
verted into  mosques  remain  as  memorials  of 
Iranian  Christianity. 

The  history  of  the  missionary  activity  of  the 
Nestorian  Church  in  the  farther  East  is  a  subject 
on  which  the  available  sources  of  information 
are  exceedingly  scanty.  The  extant  records  of 
that  church  give  very  little  light,  a  circumstance 
not  so  surprising  when  one  reads  that  the  more 
distant  metropolitans  were  required  to  report  to 
the  patriarch  only  once  in  six  years.  The  sources 
that  we  have  are  scattered  notices  in  Syriac 
works,  the  narratives  of  Mediaeval  European 
travelers,  and  the  references  to  Mongol  and  Turk- 
ish Christians  in  the  Muslim  and  Christian  his- 
tories of  the  Mongols.^ 

'  These  are  all  collected  in  Howorth's  History  of  the  Mongols, 
a  work  which  is  drawn  on  constantly  for  facts  used  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages. 


168    ISLA31  AND  THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

There  are  two  routes  from  Western  to  Eastern 
Asia,  by  sea  and  by  land.  Both  were  used  from 
early  times  for  trade  and  Christianity  followed 
both,  as  did  Islam.  There  is  good  proof  that 
Christianity  entered  Southern  China  through  the 
merchants  that  traded  by  the  sea-route  via  India, 
but  this  lies  outside  our  subject.  The  starting 
point  from  which  Christianity  spread  by  land  into 
Central  and  Eastern  Asia  was  naturally  the  East- 
ern region  of  Iranian  culture  and  of  Arab  rule 
in  Merv,  Bukhara,  Balkh,  and  Samarkand.  The 
war  of  Iran  and  Turan  is  as  old  as  history  and 
long  before  Muhammad  Christianity  had  reached 
the  boundaries  of  these  titantic  rivals ;  and  it  is 
possible  that  it  had  even  overstepped  the  bounda- 
ries, for  Theophylact  tells  of  Turkish  mercena- 
ries of  Khusru  Parviz  who  bore  the  cross  tattooed 
on  their  breasts  as  a  charm  against  the  plague.^ 

In  passing  it  may  be  remarked  that  this  story 
illustrates  the  fact,  to  our  history  of  very  great 
importance,  that  the  Turkish  migrations  west- 
ward were  as  old  as  Islam  itself.  Political  con- 
ditions opened  the  trade  routes  from  Khurasan 
and  Transoxiana  to  China.  Christianity  entered 
these  open  doors,  for  the  famous  Nestorian  mon- 

'  Theophylact,  225. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  169 

ument  of  Si-ngan-fu  in  China  tells  of  the  advent 
in  A.  D.  635,  three  years  after  the  death  of  Mu- 
hammad, of  a  Nestorian  teacher  from  the  West 
called  Olopun  and  how  he  brought  his  faith  to 
the  favorable  notice  of  the  emperor.  It  then 
recounts  the  gracious  toleration  of  Christianity 
by  the  emperors  till  the  time  the  monument  was 
erected  in  a.  d.  781.^  From  Chinese  sources  it 
appears  that  in  a.  d,  845  Christianity  and  other 
foreign  faiths,  especially  the  far  more  prevalent 
Buddhism,  were  persecuted  and  that  three  thou- 
sand Christian  monks  and  other  Western  teach- 
ers, were  forced  to  return  to  the  ordinary  walks 
of  life.^  From  Syriac  records  we  learn  that  about 
the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century  a  metropolitan 
of  China  was  appointed  by  the  patriarch 
Timothy. ' 

The  connection  of  this  early  Christianity  in 
northwestern  China  with  that  of  Samarkand  and 
Balkh  is  shown  by  the  mention  of  a  priest  from 
Balkh  on  the  Nestorian  monument.  But  Chris- 
tianity did  not  reach  China  at  a  leap,  nor  did 
it  cross  the  thousands   of  miles   of  intervening 

•  See  Legge's  Edition  and  Essay. 
^Nestorian  Monument,  Legge,  50, 
"  Thomas  of  Mar ^a,  ii.  448, 


170    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

territory  without  making  some  impression.  The 
road  that  the  monk  traveled  was  the  same  that 
the  merchants  followed,  either  over  high  passes 
to  Kashgar  and  thence  along  the  Tarim  Val- 
ley, or  farther  north  over  lower  passes  by  Kulja 
to  the  Tarim,  and  thence  on  to  Northern 
China.  The  population  of  Turkish  and  Mongol 
tribes  in  this  region  was  ever  shifting.  Among 
them,  however,  and  perhaps  less  barbarous  than 
most  were  the  Uighurs — "  village-dwellers  "  their 
name  is  said  to  mean — and  in  this  tribe  Chris- 
tianity enrolled  many  converts.  Many  among 
them  were  Christians — how  many  and  when  and 
through  whose  efforts  they  became  such  we  do 
not  know,  but  that  they  were  numerous  is 
shown  by  frequent  references  to  Uighur  Chris- 
tians in  the  Hterature  of  the  Mongol  period,  and 
also  by  their  graves.  At  Pishpek  in  Russian 
Turkestan,  near  the  Chinese  border  and  about 
three  hundred  miles  east  of  the  city  of  Tashkend, 
is  a  cemetery  of  Christian  graves,  eight  acres  in 
extent,  with  Syriac  inscriptions  on  the  stones. 
Here  Christians  were  buried  for  about  five  hun- 
dred years,  from  a.  d.  850  to  a.  d.  1330,  some 
with  Turkish  and  some  with  Syriac  names,  old 
men  and  maidens,  laymen  and  priests — one  of  the 


THE     EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  171 

latest  Shlikha, "  renowned  interpreter  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  preacher,  who  filled  all  the  monasteries 
with  light,  the  son  of  Peter  the  expounder.  He 
was  celebrated  for  wisdom  and  his  voice  was 
sonorous  as  a  trumpet."  Thirty  miles  away  is 
another  cemetery.  How  many  more  are  lost  in 
the  wilds  of  this  wild  country  time  may  reveal 
in  part  and  only  the  Great  Resurrection  in  full- 
ness.^ An  alphabet  was  adapted  from  the  Syriac 
by  these  Turks,  which  was  used  extensively  by 
the  Mongol  conquerors  and  is  still  in  use  by  the 
Mongols  of  Eastern  Asia.  The  Uighurs  were 
the  scribes,  the  high  officials,  and  often  the  gen- 
erals of  the  Mongols.  One  of  them,  Kitibuka  by 
name,  a  Christian  at  least  by  descent,  was  the 
commander  and  viceroy  of  Hulagu  in  Syria  and 
Cilicia.  To  their  influence  was  due  in  large  part 
the  measure  of  mercy  shown  the  Christians  in 
the  merciless  wars. 

Another  closely  related  line  of  evidence  begins 
with  a  statement  of  Bar  Hebrseus,  who  relates 
that  in  A.  d.  1007  messengers  came  from  a 
king,  or  chief,  of  a  tribe  called  Keraits  to  the 
Metropolitan  of  Merv,  asking  for  a  priest  to  bap- 
tize him  and  his  people.  He  had  lost  his  way 
'  Lansdcll,  Chinese  Central  Asia,  i.  109. 


172     ISLA3I  AND   THE   ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

while  hunting  and  had  been  guided  home  by  a 
saint,  or  holy  apparition.  Thus  attracted  to 
Christianity,  he  had  been  more  fully  instructed 
by  Christian  merchants  in  his  capital  city  and 
had  received  from  them  a  copy  of  the  gospels, 
which  he  is  said  to  have  worshiped  daily.  Priests 
were  sent  and  in  view  of  the  fare  on  which  the 
people  lived  permission  was  given  to  use  milk 
during  the  Lenten  fast.^  Unk  Khan,  the  chief 
of  the  Keraits,  was  first  the  friend  and  later 
the  enemy  of  Jingis  Khan.  He  is  said  to  have 
been  known  as  King  John,  and  he  finally  for- 
sook Christianity.^  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  Ho  worth  is  right  in  accepting  these  state- 
ments and  in  finding  in  Unk,  or  Wang,  Khan, 
who  figures  prominently  in  the  earlier  history 
of  Jingis  Khan,  the  original  of  Prester  John  of 
mediseval  legend.^  We  have  accounts  of  these 
Keraits  from  Marco  Polo  and  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic missionaries,  who  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury visited  the  dominions  of  the  successors  of 
Jingis  Khan,  which  then  included  a  large  part 
of  China.     These   found    Christians    in   various 

^  Bar  HebriEus,  Ec.  Chron.,  iii.  279f. 

2  Howorth,  History  of  the  Mongols,  i.  54lff. 

•*  History  of  the  Mongols,  Vol.  i,  Ch.  x. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF   THE  FAITHS  173 

cities  in  Tangut  and  especially  in  the  region  of 
Tanduc  along  the  northern  bend  of  the  Hoang 
Ho  or  Yellow  river.  The  princes  of  this  city, 
they  say,  were  of  the  line  of  Prester  John  and 
always  married  from  the  family  of  the  Great 
Khan.  This  last  statement  is  corroborated  by 
the  history  of  the  Mongols  and  explains  the  pres- 
ence in  the  royal  harem  of  Christian  wives  of 
Mongol  extraction.  One  of  these  princes  of 
Tanduc  became  a  Roman  Catholic  and  with  his 
aid  the  friars  prospered  greatly  in  their  mission 
work,  but  on  his  death  the  family  relapsed  into 
Nestorianism.  In  the  lists  of  the  Nestorian  dio- 
ceses of  the  twelfth  century  and  in  the  later  his- 
tory the  metropolitan  see  of  Tangut  is  mentioned. 
The  evidence  is  barely  summarized  here,  but  it 
is  clear  that  Nestorian  Christianity  was  widely 
extended  among  the  Turks  and  Mongols  of  the 
Uighur  and  Kerait  tribes  from  the  regions  ad- 
joining Samarkand  to  Northern  China  and  Man- 
churia. It  may  be  that  the  Christians  in  China 
were  all  Mongols  or  Turks  rather  than  Chinese, 
even  in  the  earlier  period  of  the  monument  of 
Si-ngan-fu,  for  the  dynasty  at  that  time  is  de- 
scribed as  being  "  Turkish  by  alliance,  character, 
and  temperament,"  and   it  is  evident  from  the 


174    ISLAM  AND   TEE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

monument  itself  that  the  favor  of  these  emperors 
was  a  great  factor  in  the  progress  of  Christianity.^ 
If  the  extent  of  Christianity  in  Central  Asia  is 
very  imperfectly  known,  the  means  of  its  exten- 
sion are  still  more  obscure.  We  may  be  sure 
that  commerce  was  an  important  factor.  It  has 
been  remarked  that  Christianity  followed  the 
great  trade  routes  in  its  progress  eastward.  They 
were  merchants  already  in  Tanduc,  who  told 
Prester  John,  or  his  ancestor,  the  contents  of 
the  Christian  faith.  In  the  times  of  Mongol 
dominion  in  Persia  we  read  of  a  wealthy  Christian 
merchant  from  the  region  of  Mosul,  accompanied 
by  a  Mongol  Christian  of  high  rank,  who  died  in 
Khurasan  on  his  way  home  from  the  far  East. 
His  sons  were  befriended  by  the  Mongol  and  one 
of  them  was  afterwards  appointed  governor  of 
Mosul,  a  position  that  he  long  held.  *  Other 
agents  in  the  extension  of  Christianity  were  the 
monks.  A  considerable  part  of  the  Si-ngan-fu 
monument  is  taken  up  with  a  description  and 
eulogy  of  the  monastic  life.  The  supposedly 
supernatural  guide  of  the  Kerait  chieftain  sug- 
gests a  hermit,  living  such  a  life  as  Mar  Yahbhal- 

1  Cahun,  Turcs  et  Mongols,  121. 
'•*  Bar  Hebraeus,  C/iron.  Syr.,  582f. 


TEE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  175 

aha  and  his  companion  Rabban  Sauma  passed 
before  they  came  west,  having  their  home  in  a 
cave  in  a  lonely  mountain  in  the  country  of  the 
Keraits. 

The  estimate  of  the  character  of  these  Turkish 
Christians  derived  from  their  part  in  Mongol 
history  is  very  low.  There  is  nothing  to  indicate 
that  they  were  less  inhuman  than  their  comrades 
in  war,  pillage,  and  massacre.  In  one  instance 
we  read  of  the  Christians  of  Arbil  being  pro- 
tected in  the  celebration  of  their  rites  by  a  squad 
of  Christian  Mongols,  who  bore  crosses  suspended 
from  the  points  of  their  spears.^  The  queens 
who  carried  chapels  about  with  them  in  the 
nomad  courts  of  the  Khans  were  the  inmates  of 
polygamous  harems,  and  the  Christianity  of  their 
children,  some  of  whom  were  baptized,  was  very 
lightly  laid  aside  when  policy  required  it.  The 
travelers  from  Europe  give  an  account  of  the 
Nestorians  that  is  far  from  flattering,  telling  how 
their  priests  were  in  the  habit  of  taking  part  in 
the  Mongol  festivities,  blessing  the  cattle  and 
using  charms  and  magic.  Indeed,  they  are  repre- 
sented as  being  very  eminent  as  magicians. 

It  would  be  necessary,  even  if  we  had  no  more 

1  Bar  Hebrseus,  Chron.  Syr.,  575f. 


176     ISLAM  AND    THE   ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

favorable  testimony  to  the  character  of  the  Mon- 
gol Christians  to  allow  for  the  prejudice  of  Ro- 
man Catholic  monks  in  speaking  of  Nestorian 
heretics.  One  cannot  but  wonder  how  much  bet- 
ter Roman  Catholic  Christianity  would  be  under 
similar  conditions  of  isolation.  Fortunately  we 
have  another  and  very  valuable  source  of  testimony 
in  the  life  of  Mar  Yahbhalaha,  Nestorian  patriarch 
from  A.  D.  1 28 1  to  A.  D.  1 317.  The  account  be- 
gins with  the  story  of  two  Uighur  hermits  of  the 
region  of  Tanduc,  whose  zeal  led  them  to  deter- 
mine to  visit  the  sacred  shrines  of  the  West  and 
especially  Jerusalem.  Their  friends  and  relatives, 
native  Christians  of  that  region,  strove  to  dis- 
suade them,  as  did  the  Christian  rulers  of  the 
country  ;  but  they  were  unshaken  in  their  deci- 
sion and  finally  were  provided  by  wealthy  core- 
ligionists with  funds  for  the  way  and  by  the 
rulers  with  letters  of  introduction  and  safe-con- 
duct. The  long  journey  across  the  great  conti- 
nent of  Asia  was  made  and  they  reached  the 
Persian  court  of  the  Mongols  and  visited  the 
heads  of  their  church,  but  the  disturbed  condition 
of  the  country  prevented  their  visiting  Jerusalem. 
The  patriarch  made  our  hero  metropolitan  bishop 
and  his  companion  visitor-general  of  their  native 


THE  EXPANSION  OF   THE  FAITHS  177 

regions,  but  soon  after  his  death  left  the  patri- 
archal seat  vacant  and  the  patriarchate  was  filled 
by  the  election  of  Mar  Yahbhalaha,  chosen  on 
account  of  his  race  and  relation  to  the  Mongol 
Khans  and  in  spite  of  his  ignorance  of  Syriac. 
The  vicissitudes  of  the  thirty-five  years  during 
which  he  occupied  the  patriarchal  throne  and  dur- 
ing which  his  companion  was  sent  on  an  ex- 
tended embassy  to  the  Christian  courts  of  Europe, 
tested  thoroughly  the  simple,  unselfish  character  of 
both,  their  genuine  devotion  to  Christianity,  and 
also  their  frank  superstitious  faith  in  saints  and 
relics.  Mar  Yahbalaha  suffered  himself  and  was 
a  true  shepherd  of  his  flock  in  a  troubled  time, 
ready  to  lay  down  his  life  if  need  be  for  them. 
One  is  glad  to  believe  that  there  were  others  of 
like  faith  unknown  to  history,  who  lived  and  died 
in  true  and  simple  obedience. 

But  whatever  Christianity  did  for  individuals, 
it  failed  to  hold  and  influence  the  destiny  of  the 
Turkish  race.  In  the  sixteenth  century  the 
Jesuits  who  went  to  North  China  found  only  the 
memory  of  the  Nestorian  Christians.^  Persecu- 
tion by  the  Chinese  emperors  had  rooted  them 
out.     In  Central  Asia  both  internal  and  external 

1  Yule,  Cathay,  c. 


178    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

causes  can  be  found  for  the  failure  of  Christianity. 
It  did  not  take  hold  of  the  Turkish  language  and 
create  such  a  literature  as  should  be  the  fruit  of 
five  hundred  years  of  opportunity.  It  was  iso- 
lated by  the  terrible  distances,  by  the  uncertain 
political  relations  of  the  East  and  the  West,  and 
by  the  loose  organization  and  administration  of 
the  Nestorian  Church.  It  was  cut  off  entirely 
from  the  Christianity  of  Europe  and  when 
Roman  Catholicism  came  it  was  not  a  friend  but 
a  rival.  Finally  the  Christianity  that  was 
preached  had  lost  much  of  its  power.  Its  crown 
was  no  longer  the  loving  and  faithful  walk  of 
men  among  men  but  the  life  of  the  hermit  apart 
from  men.  It  relied  on  relics  rather  than  on  the 
living  Spirit  of  God,  on  miracles  rather  than  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus,  and  on  saints  rather  than  on  the 
ascended  Christ. 

The  accounts  of  the  eastward  extension  of  Is- 
lam into  Central  Asia  and  to  China  are  as  scanty 
as  those  of  Christianity  in  the  same  regions. 
Before  the  acceptance  of  Islam  by  the  great 
Mongol  Khans  its  history  is  much  like  that  of 
Christianity,  except  that  it  was  connected  more 
closely  with  political  matters,  the  Khalifas  and 
the  Chinese  emperors  having  diplomatic  relations 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  179 

from  early  times  and  Islam  being  a  political  force 
on  the  western  borders  of  Central  Asia  and  grad- 
ually advancing  its  bounds.  It  entered  both 
Southern  and  Northern  China  by  the  trade  routes, 
the  former  apparently  at  the  very  beginning  of 
the  foreign  extension  of  Islam,  and  the  latter  a 
century  later.  By  the  middle  of  the  tenth  cen- 
tury Islam  had  a  hold  on  the  borders  of  Northern 
China  as  a  political  and  a  persecuting  power,  tol- 
erating, however,  Nestorian  Christianity.  It  too 
gained  a  hold  among  the  Uighurs.  We  read  of 
Muslim  merchants  among  the  Mongols  and  of 
mosques  at  the  court  of  the  Mongol  Khans.  It 
appears  likely  that  the  Muslims  in  North  China 
are  of  Mongol  and  Tartar  descent,  and  that  the 
immigration  of  peoples  of  these  races  especially 
in  connection  with  the  Mongol  supremacy  was 
the  cause  of  the  extension  of  Islam  there.  Be- 
sides the  Mongol  troops,  Khubilai  Khan  in  the 
thirteenth  century  made  large  use  of  Arab  and 
Persian  officials  in  the  administration  of  his 
Chinese  dominions. 

But  the  real  history  of  the  extension  of  Islam 
among  the  Turks  and  Mongols  has  far  more  to 
do  with  the  westward  movements  of  the  hordes 
than  with  any  missionary  or  political  efforts  to 


180    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

carry  Islam  to  them.  The  use  of  Turkish  mer- 
cenaries had  begun  in  Sassanian  times  and  the 
Abbasids  early  adopted  it.  The  Turks  thus  en- 
tering into  the  territories  of  the  Khalifas  and  of 
the  Muslim  dynasties  of  the  East  naturally  ac- 
cepted the  religion  professed  by  the  princes  who 
employed  them  and  by  the  large  majority  of  the 
people  among  whom  they  settled.  This  gradual 
process  went  on  for  centuries  and  powerful  dynas- 
ties of  Turks  arose.  They  became  the  dominant 
race,  even  the  Khalifa  being  a  puppet  in  the 
hands  of  his  Turkish  guards  and  viziers.  The 
political  conquest  of  the  Turks  over  the  Arabs 
and  the  religious  conquest  of  the  Arabs  over  the 
Turks  were  both  so  gradual  that  we  are  apt  to 
forget  how  complete  and  momentous  they  were. 
When  the  inroads  of  the  heathen  hordes  of  the 
Mongols  took  place  in  the  thirteenth  century,  in 
all  the  regions  they  conquered  from  those  of  the 
Sultan  of  Khwarizm  in  Transoxiana  to  the  Seljuk 
dominions  on  the  Mediterranean,  they  found 
Muslims  of  kindred  race,  language,  and  civiliza- 
tion. The  religious  attitude  of  the  Mongol  rulers 
was  such  that  there  was  no  obstacle  to  the  em- 
ployment of  Muslims  in  offices  of  state  nor  to  the 
intercourse  of  the  immigrants  with  the  conquered 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  TEE  FAITHS  181 

Muhammadans.  They  married  freely  from  them. 
The  conquerors  were  thus  the  easy  conquest  of 
the  vanquished  and  about  the  beginning  of  the 
fourteenth  century  the  far-sighted  Ghazan  Khan 
saw  that  it  was  the  best  poUcy  of  state  to  accept 
Islam  and  to  establish  his  kingdom  on  that  basis. 
This  change  was  opposed  by  the  conservatives, 
who  had  blocked  a  similar  attempt  of  Ahmad 
Khan  shortly  before  and  who  still  clung  to  the 
Shamamism  and  the  religious  indifference  of 
the  earlier  Khans ;  but  the  people  had  been 
won  by  Islam  and  the  state  must  follow. 
Christianity  played  only  a  minor  part  in  the 
question.^ 

The  history  of  the  branch  of  the  descendants 
of  Jingis  Khan  who  ruled  in  Transoxiana  was 
similar,  except  that  the  opposition  to  the  adoption 
of  Islam  was  strengthened  by  the  hordes  of  the 
steppes,  some  of  them  Christian,  and  Islam  was 
not  firmly  established  till  the  conquests  of  Timur. 
He  was  a  Mussulman  before  he  rose  to  power 
in  Transoxiana  with  his  capital  at  Samarkand, 
whence  he  made  Islam  supreme  in  Central  Asia. 

'  This  is  evident  from  the  history  of  Mar  Yahbhalaha.  He 
had  no  influence  in  national  affairs,  though  he  was  personally 
favored  by  the  Khans. 


182    ISLAM  AND    THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

Christianity  in  that  part  of  Asia  disappeared  be- 
fore his  terrible  sword.' 

Imperfectly  and  in  outline  the  long  process  has 
been  sketched,  in  which  Christianity  gained  only 
to  lose  again  and  Islam  became  supreme  from  the 
Mediterranean  to  the  Chinese  Wall.  Much  re- 
mains obscure  and  some  must  always  so  remain  ; 
but  it  is  clear  that  here  is  a  section  of  the  history 
of  Christianity  too  important  to  be  dismissed 
with  a  general  eulogy  of  the  missionary  spirit  of 
the  Nestorian  Church  or  with  a  condemnation  of 
Islam  for  using  the  sword. 

One  cannot  but  be  impressed  with  the  political 
character  of  the  triumph  of  Islam.  It  is  not 
meant  that  Islam  has  been  propagated  altogether 
by  political  means,  nor  that  its  victory  is  due  to 
the  forcible  suppression  of  other  faiths.  What 
is  meant  is  that,  just  as  in  the  foundation  of  Islam 
religion  and  state  were  united,  so  in  its  propaga- 
tion political  motives  and  means  have  been  inex- 
tricably joined  with  those  more  spiritual  in  char- 
acter. Take  for  example  the  greatest  conquest 
Islam  ever  made,  that  of  the  Turkish  race.  It 
began  in  the  hiring  of  mercenaries  and  it  ended 
in  the  wars  of  Timur.     The  claim  is  sometimes 

^  Cahun,  Turcs  et  Mongols y  475-480. 


THE   EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  183 

made  that  this  has  changed,  and  that  the  pres- 
ent extension  of  Islam  is  not  pohtical.  The 
Wahabi  movement  is  pointed  out  as  a  great  spir- 
itual movement  in  modern  Islam  "  one  of  the  two 
chief  factors  making  for  missionary  activity  in  the 
Mussulman  world,"  and  we  are  assured  that  it  has 
"  lost  all  political  significance  outside  of  Najd."  ^ 
Such  a  statement  flies  in  the  face  of  history,  for 
Wahabism  is  a  Puritanical  return  to  the  ideals  of 
early  Islam  and  a  rejection  of  the  accretions  and 
modifications  of  subsequent  history.  If  it  be  true 
to  its  purpose,  it  will  be  spiritual  and  religious, 
but  it  will  also  be  political ;  for  such  were  the 
ideals  of  the  Prophet  and  his  companions.  The 
political  element  may  be  obscured  by  circum- 
stances and  may  be  latent  for  a  long  time,  but  it 
is  difficult  to  see  how  it  can  be  eliminated. 

A  true  estimate  of  the  missionary  activity  of 
the  Nestorian  Church  must  contain  much  of  ad- 
miration, for  surely  nothing  less  is  due  to  such 
vast  expansion  as  that  which  marks  its  history, 
especially  in  view  of  the  difficulties  encountered. 
The  preaching  of  the  gospel  must  have  been  at 
the  cost  of  great  privation  and  suffering,  and  the 
old  monks  who  carried  the  faith  into  barbarous  re- 

'  Arnold,  Fr caching  of  Is  la?/!,  345 


184    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

gions  were  true  heroes.  At  the  same  time  a 
sense  of  the  inadequacy  of  the  work  is  inevitable 
— its  inadequacy  in  motive,  in  method,  and  in  the 
gospel  preached.  This  appears  not  only  in  com- 
parison with  the  more  developed  but  purer  and 
simpler  Christianity  that  we  know,  but  even  in 
some  respects  in  comparison  with  Islam  itself. 
Two  closely  related  points  may  be  specified  here  ; 
the  equality  of  believers  in  respect  both  to  privi- 
lege and  to  obligation,  and  the  freedom  and  sim- 
plicity of  organization  as  realized  in  Islam,  The 
idea  of  ritual  observances  and  ascetic  exercises  is 
a  part  of  the  original  constitution  of  Islam  and 
hence  obligatory  on  all  in  an  equal  degree ;  but 
while  oriental  Christianity  required  fasting  of  all, 
the  monastic  ideal  offered  a  higher  degree  of  holi- 
ness to  be  attained  by  some  by  a  special  rule  of 
life.  It  is  true  that  the  darvish  orders  correspond 
somewhat  to  the  monastic  orders,  but  they  are 
freer  and  have  never  become  an  essential  element 
in  the  organization  of  Islam,  as  monasticism  is  in 
oriental  Christianity.  In  Islam  each  believer  has 
equal  access  to  the  One  God  without  any  human 
mediation,  not  the  perfect  access  that  is  the  ideal 
of  Christianity,  but  equal  access  for  all.  No  rites 
are    indispensable.     Simple   confession    of  faith 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS         185 

constitutes  one  a  Muslim  and  he  is  the  peer  of 
every  other  Mushm.  In  Christianity  along  with 
the  priestly  conception  of  religion  went  the  hier- 
archical form  of  government.  In  Islam  no  ex- 
ternal authorization  or  connection  is  necessary  to 
the  organization  of  a  company  of  believers,  while 
in  oriental  Christianity  the  necessity  of  the  epis- 
copal bond  and  succession  was  enforced.  Much 
more  might  be  said  in  criticism  and  might  be 
said  with  profit,  if  the  motive  be  to  learn  how 
best  to  do  our  duty.  Otherwise  we  have  no  right 
to  criticise  those  who  fought  even  though  they 
failed  to  win  the  victory. 

One  lesson  is  assuredly  the  inseparable  relation 
between  religious  and  national  movements.  Mis- 
sions have  for  their  primary  and  unalterable  aim 
the  making  known  to  the  individual  the  gospel 
of  Christ  in  order  that  he  individually  may  come 
into  living  fellowship  with  God  the  Father  of  all 
through  Christ  his  Son.  This  aim  is  inevitably 
bound  up  in  the  conception  of  religion  embodied 
in  Christianity  and  emphasized  by  the  Protestant 
Reformation.  All  other  results  of  Christian  mis- 
sions depend  upon  the  realization  of  this  aim. 
The  method  to  accomplish  other  changes  is  first 
to  change  the  individual.     At  the  same  time,  in 


186    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

order  to  be  a  permanent  and  effective  force 
Christianity  must  lay  hold  of  the  nation  and  must 
itself  be  so  organized  in  its  outward  form  and 
in  its  intellectual  character  as  to  become  an  in- 
tegral part  of  the  life  of  the  nation.  The  perma- 
nency of  Christianity  in  the  life  of  a  nation,  its 
power  to  mold  its  destiny,  is  dependent  on  the 
possession  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  leader- 
ship. The  lower,  more  ignorant,  and  supersti- 
tious forms  of  Christianity  are  the  least  perma- 
nent. In  other  words  Christianity  must  enter 
into  the  intellectual  hfe  of  the  people  and,  if  there 
is  no  such  life,  it  must  create  it.  The  fathers  of 
the  church  who  gave  their  lives  to  the  creation 
of  Greek  theology  did  more  than  bring  into  ex- 
istence a  literature,  a  new  culture,  and  a  system 
of  thought.  They  bound  up  with  Christianity 
the  destinies  of  the  Greek  race,  and  great  as  the 
needs  are  of  reviving  and  reforming  the  religious 
life  of  that  nation,  its  Christian  position  is  as- 
sured and  has  never  been  shaken  by  the  on- 
slaughts of  Islam. 

The  same  service  was  done  with  equal  effec- 
tiveness and  without  the  aid  of  political  bonds 
by  the  Syrian  Fathers  of  Edessa.  The  truth  we 
are  considering  is  enforced  equally  by  the  perma- 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  THE  FAITHS  187 

nence  of  Christianity  among  the  Syrians  and  Ar- 
menians and  by  its  transitoriness  among  the 
Arabs,  Persians,  and  Turks.  Christian  schools, 
the  Bible  and  other  Christian  literature  in  the 
vernacular,  the  creation  of  a  truly  national  cul- 
ture, are  indispensable  to  the  conquest  of  the  na- 
tions. The  great  aim  of  such  work  is  not  the 
impartation  of  a  foreign  culture  and  the  arts  of 
civilization,  nor  is  it  to  attract  people  to  Christi- 
anity. It  is  to  entrench  Christianity  in  the  life 
of  the  nation  through  leaders  and  in  the  thought 
of  the  people.  Islam  did  this  with  the  Arabs, 
Persians,  and  Turks.  Under  Islam  each  of  these 
peoples  has  produced  a  literature  and  had  an  in- 
tellectual life.  Another  truth  writ  large  in  this 
history  is  that  missions  must  not  lag  behind  po- 
litical changes.  No  better  missionary  appeal  for 
immediate  work  in  China  could  be  made  than 
the  title  of  a  secular  work,  "  China  in  Transfor- 
mation." It  is  folly  and  it  is  disobedience  to  the 
voice  of  history  not  to  make  every  effort  to  an- 
ticipate the  political  and  social  revolutions  that 
are  taking  place  so  rapidly  and  that  must  ere 
long  include,  the  whole  non-Christian  world. 
How  much  harder  it  is  to-day  to  evangelize 
Arabia   or    Persia   than    it  was   fifteen  hundred 


188    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

years  ago !  What  a  loss  to  the  world  that  the 
Turks  have  been  entrenched  in  Muhammadan- 
ism  instead  of  having  been  won  for  Christianity ! 
Is  the  church  to-day  more  clear-sighted  in  its 
views  of  current  history  than  were  the  Christians 
who  rejoiced  in  the  early  conquests  of  Islam  ? 


Fifth  Lecture 

THE  DOWNFALL  OF  CHRISTIANITY  IN 
-      THE  COMMON  RUIN 


Tragic  character  of  the  course  of  the  history  and  the  relation 
of  the  Christians  to  it.  Geographical  distribution  of  the  Chris- 
tians and  the  fortunes  of  the  centers  of  Christian  population. 
Service  of  faith  in  the  dark  days. 


/ 


Fifth  Lecture 

THE  DOWNFALL  OF  CHRISTIANITY  IN 
THE  COMMON  RUIN 

There  is  one  cause  for  the  ruin  of  the  oriental 
churches  that  might  in  itself  be  considered  suffi- 
cient to  account  for  their  downfall.  Many  differ- 
ent causes  have  operated  to  bring  about  that 
result.  The  force  of  national  spirit  and  destiny, 
the  grinding  inequality  of  toleration,  violent  per- 
secution, outbursts  of  fanatical  and  envious  mobs, 
internal  disorganization,  spiritual  apathy,  vol- 
untary apostasy,  and  the  active  propaganda  of 
Islam  may  be  mentioned ;  but  more  than  all  else 
the  numerical  decrease  is  due  to  anarchy,  pesti- 
lence, famine  and  war.  The  population  of 
Western  Asia  is  undoubtedly  far  smaller  to-day 
than  it  was  a  thousand  years  ago,  and  this  in 
spite  of  the  immigration  of  the  Turks.  The  ruin 
has  been  a  common  ruin  of  the  whole  land  and  of 
all  its  inhabitants,  and  in  it  Christianity  has  shared.^ 

'  An  illustration  of  this  general  fact  is  to  be  found  in  tlie 
pitiful  handful  of  Jews  now  in  Mesopotamia  and  Babylonia 
compared  with  the  large  numbers  in  Sassanian  and  Arab  times. 
191 


192     ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

The  tragic  character  of  the  whole  history  may 
be  iUustrated  by  a  rapid  survey  of  the  wars  that 
marked  its  course.  The  first  conquest  of  Islam 
was  rapid  and  the  leaders  were  self-restrained. 
Hence  these  wars  were  less  destructive  than  later 
ones  and  than  those  of  Heraclius  and  Khusru  in 
the  generation  preceding.  Twenty-five  years 
after  the  conquest  the  civil  wars  of  Islam  began 
in  the  struggle  between  Ali  and  Muawiya  and  at 
the  same  time  began  the  Kharijite  rebellions  that 
by  turn  smoldered  and  burst  into  flame  for  cen- 
turies.  The  last  years  of  the  Umayyids  were 
marked  by  insurrections  out  of  which  rose  the 
new  Abbasid  line.  Even  in  the  palmy  days  of 
Harun  ur  Rashid  we  read  of  rebellions  that  rav- 
aged Azarbaijan,  Mosul,  and  Mesopotamia  ;  while 
after  his  death  the  empire  was  thrown  into  con- 
fusion by  the  struggle  between  his  sons,  in  the 
course  of  which  Baghdad  itself  was  for  a  whole 
year  in  a  state  of  siege.  Other  civil  wars  that 
were  terribly  destructive  were  the  insurrection  of 
Babek  in  Persia  and  the  Zenj  slave  insurrections 
in  the  eighth  century  and  the  wars  of  the  fanat- 
ical Qarmatians  about  the  beginning  of  the 
ninth.  Most  of  the  wars  with  the  emperors  were 
waged  in  the  territory  of  the  Greeks,  but  the 


THE  DOWNFALL   OF  CHRISTIANITY         193 

tenth  century  witnessed  inroads  as  far  as  Edessa 
in  what  had  long  been  Arab  territory.  From 
the  ninth  century  to  the  end  of  the  twelfth  the 
history  is  made  up  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  dynas- 
ties, most  of  them  petty  and  local  but  some,  as 
the  Saljuks  and  the  Ghaznivids,  embracing  vast 
territories,  and  of  the  wars  of  the  Crusaders. 
The  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  were 
those  of  Mongol  invasion  and  dominion,  closing 
with  Timur.  Pages  might  be  taken  up  with  the 
catalogue  of  raids,  campaigns,  sieges,  and  battles, 
and  as  time  passed  they  were  more  and  more 
barbarous,  more  terrible  in  destruction,  and 
wanton  in  the  sacrifice  of  life.  The  wars  of  the 
Mongols  were  unutterably  savage.  The  invaders 
announced  themselves  to  be  the  scourges  of  God 
to  punish  the  world.  In  China  it  is  said  that 
the  slain  numbered  seventeen  and  a  half  millions. 
In  the  sack  of  Baghdad  eight  hundred  thousand 
human  beings  are  said  to  have  perished.  Such 
numbers  are  incomprehensible,  but  not  altogether 
incredible  when  we  remember  that  the  conquer- 
ors sometimes  required  the  whole  population  of 
a  city  to  go  outside  and  there  await  the  butcher's 
sword.  The  terror  is  shown  by  such  stories  as 
this  of  Maragha,  where  a  single  Mongol  alone 


194     ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

went  down  a  street  and  butchered  a  hundred  peo- 
ple without  any  one  raising  a  hand  against  him. 
Another  Mongol  in  Mesopotamia,  having  left  his 
sword  behind  him,  commanded  a  victim  to  lie 
still  till  he  fetched  it,  and  he  was  obeyed.  No 
wonder  the  Muslim  historian  Ibn  al  Athir,  who 
was  an  eyewitness  of  what  he  depicted,  says  that 
for  many  years  he  could  not  bring  himself  to 
describe  the  catastrophe  that  to  him  seemed  the 
destruction  of  Islam  and  the  most  terrible  event 
in  all  history  from  the  time  of  Adam  till  the 
great  day  when  the  race  shall  stand  before  God's 
throne.^  Yet  after  Ibn  al  Athir  came  the  most 
terrible  scourge  of  all,  Timur.  It  has  been  said 
that  it  was  his  mournful  service  to  have  swept 
away  the  vestiges  of  the  past  and  that  after  him 
out  of  the  chaos  a  new  era  began.^ 

In  all  these  wars  the  Nestorian  and  Jacobite 
Christians  were  non-combatants,  and  during  a 
part  of  the  Mongol  period  they  had  some  favor 
at  the  hands  of  the  heathen  kings.  ^     The  former 

'  Miiller,  Islam  in  Morgen-und  Abendland,  ii.  199. 

2  Ibid,  ii.  311. 

3  The  only  exceptions,  so  far  as  I  know,  to  the  statement  that 
the  Nestorians  and  Jacobites  were  non-combatants  are  the 
Christian  mountaineers  of  Ahwaz,  who  fought  with  the  Khari- 
jites    against    the   Khalifas    (Muir,    Caliphate,   292)    and   the 


THE  DOWNFALL   OF  CHRISTIANITY        195 

fact  availed  little  to  save  them  and  the  latter  was 
a  curse.  They  were  perhaps  the  most  civilized 
part  of  the  population,  either  settled  farmers  liv- 
ing in  villages,  or  merchants,  artisans,  and  physi- 
cians living  in  the  cities  They  belonged  to  the 
class  that  would  gather  the  wealth  which  would 
attract  marauders  and  that  would  be  least  able  to 
defend  themselves.  Along  with  war  and  in  its 
wake  came  plague,  cholera,  fever  and  famine. 
In  long  continued  war  and  especially  in  periods 
of  anarchy  the  least  part  of  the  sufferings  are 
those  endured  on  the  field  of  battle.  Disease  and 
hunger  slay  more  than  the  sword.  ^  In  all  these 
Christians  shared.  The  favor  of  the  Mongols  to 
the  Christians  was  vacillating  and  unreliable ;  the 


mountaineers  of  the  region  north  of  Mosul.  These  last  are 
mentioned  by  Thomas  of  Marga  as  being  given  to  raids.  He 
gives  (ii.  523)  the  name  of  a  village  whose  inhabitants  had 
such  a  character.  The  name  as  well  as  the  location  is  the 
same  as  that  of  a  modern  village  in  Tiari  on  the  Zab.  He 
gives  the  name  as  Zarn.  The  modern  name  is  Zarni,  In 
later  times  they  were  called  Qayaje  (Turkish,  rock-dwellers) 
and  figured  largely  in  the  siege  of  Arbil  in  the  life  of  Mar 
Yahbhalaha. 

'Von  Kremer  {^Cultiirgeschichte,  ii.  490ff.)  has  compiled  a 
list  of  pestilences  and  famines  during  the  first  four  centuries  of 
Islam.  It  contains  thirty-five  pestilences  and  eleven  famines 
or  times  of  scarcity  in  regions  that  are  directly  related  to  our 
history. 


196    JSLA3I  AND   TEE  ORIENTAL  CHURCHES 

control  of  the  armies  was  slight  and  in  massacre 
distinctions  of  creed  would  be  obliterated ;  the 
number  of  Muhammadans  in  high  position  was 
almost  always  larger  than  that  of  Christians  and 
in  the  rank  and  file  they  were  far  more  numer- 
ous ;  and,  finally,  the  Muhammadan  reaction  in 
hatred  and  revenge  was  exceedingly  bitter.  The 
Christians  were  most  numerous  in  those  portions 
of  Western  Asia  that  suffered  most  in  the  wars, 
because  they  were  the  most  fertile,  the  most 
populous,  the  least  defensible  and  on  the  great 
highways  of  the  march  of  armies.  A  rapid  sur- 
vey of  the  regions  containing  Christian  popula- 
tion will  make  this  clearer. 

The  Jacobites  were  numerous  in  Cilicia,  in 
Northern  Syria,  and  in  Western  Mesopotamia. 
These  regions  were  the  scenes  of  the  wars  of  the 
Khalifas  and  the  emperors,  to  some  extent  of  the 
Crusades,  and  of  the  conflict  between  the  Mon- 
gols and  the  Mamluks  of  Egypt.  In  the  first  of 
these  large  numbers  of  prisoners  were  taken  by 
both  armies,  and  the  Jacobites  were  not  regarded 
as  friends  by  the  Greeks.  ^     The  lives  of  eastern 

1  Bar  Hebraeus  complains  bitterly  of  the  treatment  of  the 
Jacobites  by  the  Byzantines  in  the  eleventh  century.  Ec. 
Chron.,  i.  41  if.,  42iff.,  433,  444  ;  ii.  459f. 


THE  DOWNFALL    OF  CHlillSTIANITY         197 

Christians  lost  through  famine  and  by  the  sword 
in  the  sieges  and  counter-sieges  of  the  Crusaders' 
principahty  at  Edessa  must  have  been  many  times 
over  those  of  the  European  soldiery.  In  the 
wars  of  the  Mongols  and  the  Mamluks,  both 
sides  ravaged  again  and  again  the  cities  and 
plains  of  Syria  and  Cilicia,  while  Egyptian  raids 
extended  into  Mesopotamia.  In  these  wars  the 
Christians  must  have  suffered  terribly  ;  for  while 
Muslims  fought  in  both  armies,  Mongol  and 
Egj'ptian,  the  Georgian  and  Armenian  allies  of 
the  Mongol  Khan  were  his  great  reliance  and 
accordingly  the  Egyptians  wreaked  their  ven- 
geance on  the  Jacobites  and  other  Christians.  * 

Central  and  eastern  Mesopotamia  had  a  very 
large  Christian  population  of  both  the  Syrian 
Churches.  In  the  civil  wars  from  early  times  the 
Arabs  swept  back  and  forth  across  this  region. 
The  rebels  who  occasioned  these  wars  were  often 
Muslims  of  the  most  fanatical  sort  who  rejected 
the  rule  of  lukewarm  Khalifas.     At  their  hands 

^  Bar  Hebrseus,  Syr.  Chroti.,  523,  Ec.  C/iron.,  ii.  729.  "  At 
this  time  (C.  1259  A.  D.)  war,  famine,  and  pestilence  prevailed 
in  the  whole  country,  especially  in  the  region  of  Miletene, 
which  was  devastated  by  the  Agagrian  Turkomans,  so  that  all 
Mesopotamia,  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Egypt  were  fdled  with 
Christian  slaves  and  maidens." — Cf.  IlijJ.,  771,817,  and  iii.  431, 


198    ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

Christians  would  receive  little  mercy.  With  the 
fall  of  the  power  of  the  Khalifas  the  petty  dynas- 
ties that  rose  were  so  oppressive  that  at  one  time 
twelve  thousand  of  the  Arab  subjects  of  the 
princes  of  Nisibis  fled  to  Byzantine  territory, 
changing  their  religion,  and  thence  raiding  the 
country  they  had  left.  ^  Every  Mongol  army 
going  to  Syria  and  many  who  campaigned  in 
Mesopotamia  itself  left  behind  it  waste  and  deso- 
lation. The  population  of  Mosul  and  the  adjoin- 
ing region  was  so  largely  Christian  that  the  Mon- 
gols appointed  Christian  governors,  but  this 
probably  brought  only  temporary  relief  from  the 
growing  hatred  of  the  Muslims  and  ultimately  in- 
creased the  ruin.  In  a.  d.  1262  Mosul  was  at- 
tacked by  troops  under  a  Christian  general,  and 
after  a  siege  of  six  months  the  town  capitulated. 
The  whole  population,  except  the  artisans,  was 
put  to  death.  The  latter  were  carried  away 
captive.  Later  a  thousand  fugitives,  who  had 
fled  to  the  mountains,  returned  to  the  city,  only 
to  be  set  on  and  massacred.  Shortly  before  this 
the  ruler  of  Mosul  had  cruelly  persecuted  the 
Christians,  compelling  them  to  abjure  their  faith, 
which  was  done  by  many,  and  at  the  same  time 

^  Von  Kremer,  Culturgeschichte,  ii,  495. 


THE  DOWNFALL   OF  CHRISTIANITY         199 

the  Kurds  harassed  the  Christians  in  the  villages 
and  monasteries  in  the  adjoining  country. 

That  the  Christians  were  not  spared  in  the 
massacres  of  the  Mongol  troops  is  indicated  by 
the  successful  efforts  of  the  Nestorian  bishop  of 
Jezira  to  save  the  lives  of  its  inhabitants,  when 
his  city  was  captured  by  the  same  army  and  the 
same  general  that  had  treated  Mosul  so  cruelly, 
unless  the  bishop  was  interceding  with  the  great 
Khan  for  his  Muslim  enemies  only.  ^  The  feeling 
against  the  Christians  was  so  bitter,  partly  due  to 
the  attempts  of  the  Nestorian  patriarch  to  carry 
things  with  a  high  hand,  that  he  had  first  to  leave 
Baghdad,  then  Arbil,  and  finally  to  fix  his  resi- 
dence in  Ushnuk  in  Azerbaijan,  and  this  in  the 
reign  of  Abaqa  Khan,  one  of  the  most  favorable 
of  the  Mongols  to  Christianity.  '^  During  the 
reign  of  Arghun,  who  was  the  most  favorable  of 
all  to  Christianity,  Mosul  was  occupied  for  some 
time  by  a  marauding  band  of  Kurds  and  Turko- 
mans from  Egypt  and  the  Muslims  of  the  city 
made  every  endeavor  to  turn  their  fury  against 
the  Christians  alone.  All,  Muslims,  Jews  and 
Christians,  suffered  robbery,  rape,  and  murder. 

'  Bar  Hebroeus,  Syr.  Chron.,  516,  Sigf. 
3/^/^..  525,  571ft-. 


200    ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

During  the  same  reign,  the  Christian  governor 
Masud  being  disgraced  and  murdered,  the  Mus- 
Hm  mobs  of  the  city  had  their  own  way  with  the 
Christians.  In  recording  it,  Bar  Hebrseus,  a  con- 
temporary, breaks  out  as  he  seldom  does  in  his 
history,"  The  cruel  persecutions  which  the  people 
of  Mosul  suffered  during  these  two  months  tongue 
cannot  describe  nor  pen  indite.  Awake,  O 
Lord,  and  do  not  sleep  !  Look  at  the  blood  of 
thy  servants,  shed  without  mercy.  Have  pity  on 
thy  church  and  flock,  which  are  being  torn  by 
persecution."  ^ 

In  Baghdad  the  state  of  things  was  similar — 
the  massacres  of  the  Mongols,  the  passing  favor 
to  the  Christians,  and  the  fanatical  hatred  of  the 
mobs.  Southern  Persia,  including  the  regions  of 
Fars  and  Khuzistan,  where  the  Nestorians  had 
been  numerous,  escaped  largely  the  Mongol  in- 
roads, and  during  the  period  of  their  domination 
were  ruled  by  petty  dynasties.  Yet  the  Chris- 
tians disappear  from  history.  It  is  easy  to  under- 
stand how  this  would  be  the  case  in  the  anarchy 
and  the  general  bitterness  against  Christians  after 
the  Mongols.  Khurasan  was  devastated  in  the 
first  and  most  terrible  onslaught  of  the  Mongols 

>  Bar  Hebrffius,  Syr.  C/iron.,  558,  565f. 


THE  DOWNFALL    OF  CHRISTIANITY         201 

under  Jingis  Khan  himself.  Hovvorth  says  that 
"  from  the  banks  of  the  Oxus  to  Asterabad  every 
town  of  any  importance  was  reduced  to  ruins  and 
its  inhabitants  slaughtered."  ^  In  Merv  one  author 
says  there  were  1,300,000  corpses  and  another 
that  there  were  700,000.  In  Nishapur  all  were 
decapitated,  lest  the  living  should  hide  under  the 
dead.  The  only  Christians  that  Mar  Yahbha- 
laha  and  his  companion  mention  in  connection 
with  their  long  journey  westward,  in  a.  d.  1278, 
were  at  Tus  in  Khurasan.  One  can  only  wonder 
that  any  were  left.  The  facts  so  far  have  all  been 
drawn  from  the  history  previous  to  Timur,  and 
to  understand  fully  the  tragedy  of  the  history, 
we  must  add  to  all  the  ruin  described  the  fearful 
raid  of  that  great  scourge  over  all  these  regions, 
remembering  that  to  native  savagery  he  added 
the  fanaticism  nurtured  in  Islam  by  the  Mongol 
atrocities  and  that  the  people  at  large  were  in- 
flamed against  the  Christians  with  an  unreason- 
ing revenge.  So  perished  Christianity  utterly  in 
many  regions,  while  in  others  but  an  insignificant 
remnant  was  left.  It  was  swept  away  not  by  de- 
liberate persecution  but  by  war  and  pestilence 
and  by  the  passions  born  of  violence  and  bloodshed. 

1  History  of  Mou^'ols,  i.  92. 


202    ISLAM  AND    THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

Let  US  not  forget  the  services  it  rendered  in 
the  dark  days  of  its  downfall,  the  faith  and  hope 
it  gave  to  thousands,  the  courage  with  which 
some  refused  to  save  themselves  by  denying  their 
Lord,  and  the  heroism  of  others  who  strove  to 
save  the  weak  and  imperiled.  The  lights  and 
shades  of  the  picture  are  vividly  portrayed  in  the 
account  of  the  siege  of  Arbil  in  the  life  of  Mar 
Yahbhalaha.  We  see  the  Christians  who  held 
the  castle,  hardened,  reckless,  and  ready  to  fight, 
part  of  them  inhabitants  of  the  place  and  part 
of  them  wild  mountaineers.  There  are  the  com- 
mon peasantry,  inoffensive  and  helpless,  the  vic- 
tims of  massacre.  On  the  other  side  are  the 
treacherous  Muslims,  Kurds  and  Arabs,  plotting 
to  destroy  the  Christians.  The  Mongol  court  in 
Persia  is  distant,  the  communications  uncertain, 
and  the  control  loose.  Two  figures  stand  out  in 
true  heroism.  One  is  that  of  the  patriarch,  vainly 
counseling  the  Christian  hot-heads  to  give  up  their 
mad  designs,  trusting  old  friendships  with  some 
of  the  Muslims  and  the  respect  due  to  his  honor 
and  position,  a  man  of  peace  and  a  faithful  shep- 
herd, making  unavailing  efforts  to  avert  disaster 
and  seeing  his  flock  butchered  before  his  eyes. 
The  other  figure  is  that  of  the  Metropolitan  of 


THE  DOWNFALL    OF  CHRISTIANITY         203 

Arbil,  making  long  journeys  on  foot  and  in  dan- 
gerous regions,  once  to  Baghdad  and  again  to 
Hamadan  and  on  to  Sultania,  hundreds  of  miles, 
in  order  to  bring  influences  to  bear  at  the  court 
to  save  the  lives  of  his  Catholicus  and  his  flock, 
knowing,  as  the  writer  says,  that  otherwise  "  he 
would  be  guilty  under  the  rule  of  truth  and  the 
law  of  Christ,  because  if  he  was  a  shepherd  and 
a  friend  it  was  right  to  devote  and  give  himself 
to  death  and  to  despise  his  life  and  bear  all 
crosses."  Finally  he  got  orders  for  their  protec- 
tion, but  they  were  of  little  avail.  The  patriarch 
escaped,  but  many  others  were  killed.  The  hol- 
low honor  paid  to  the  metropolitan  and  to  the 
patriarch  by  the  king  and  his  courtiers  was  only 
an  aggravation.^  Syrians  living  to-day  in  the 
mountains  of  Kurdistan  and  in  the  plains  of  Per- 
sia have  the  tradition  that  their  ancestors  were 
refugees  from  Arbil  at  this  time.  It  was  a  trag- 
edy that  was  no  doubt  repeated  many  times  over 
in  the  troubled  ages  and  can  be  paralleled  in  the 
events  of  more  recent  years  in  Turkey. 

Though  the  Muslims  trembled  for  Islam  in 
those  terrible  days,  and  though  the  destructive 
forces  were  barbarous  and  not  religious,  neverthe- 

'  Alar  Jabalaha,  Ch.  xviii. 


204    ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

less  much  must  be  laid  to  the  charge  of  Islam. 
These  regions  had  been  in  its  keeping  for  cen- 
turies. Many  of  the  atrocities  were  committed 
by  Muslims  of  races  under  the  control  of  Islam  for 
generations — and  some,  too,  by  Christian  allies 
of  the  Barbarians.  Muslim  princes  opened  the 
doors  of  the  eastern  provinces  to  the  Turks,  and 
the  Khalifas  gave  them  employment.  The  dan- 
ger was  no  new  one.  It  was  the  old  battle  of 
Iran  and  Turan.  In  earlier  ages  the  forces  of 
civilization  had  held  their  own,  but  somehow  they 
were  so  weakened  under  Islam  that  they  could 
no  longer  defend  themselves. 


Sixth   Lecture 

THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  PAST  ON  THE 
FUTURE  MISSIONARY  CONFLICT 


Incentives  from  the  failures  of  the  past.  Place  of  the  ori- 
ental churches.  The  missionary  character  of  the  Syrian 
Churches.  Our  duty  to  them.  The  Christianity  that  can  con- 
quer. Its  methods,  its  theological  character,  its  vital  relation 
to  Christ. 


Sixth    Lecture 

THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  PAST  ON  THE 
FUTURE  MISSIONARY  CONFLICT 

The  Christian  looks  backward  in  order  to  look 
forward  with  greater  clearness  and  in  order  to 
press  forward  with  greater  certainty.  Our  study- 
will  certainly  be  incomplete  unless  it  be  brought 
into  some  relation  to  the  present  duty  and  future 
course  of  the  church  in  its  missionary  activity 
in  Muslim  lands.  If  history  be  the  judgment 
of  the  world,  the  revelation  of  the  relation  of 
human  actions  and  human  character  to  the 
principles  of  divine  righteousness,  its  verdict  on 
the  great  religions  must  be  of  the  highest  value. 
If  it  be  the  revelation  of  the  method  of  change 
and  progress  among  men,  the  missionary  must 
find  in  it  much  to  guide  him  in  his  work. 

Surely  one  lesson  of  the  past  is  that  a  conflict 
is  inevitable.  These  two  great  faiths  have  been 
in  close  contact  for  centuries  and  from  its  very 
inception  Islam  has  been  influenced  by  Christian- 
ity, but  they  have  remained  distinct  and  antago- 
207 


208     ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

nistic.  It  was  said  long  ago  by  a  Nestorian 
apologist  for  Christianity  that  the  faiths  differed 
only  in  the  acceptance  of  Muhammad  by  Mus- 
lims, and  the  same  in  substance  is  often  said  in 
our  own  time,  the  inference  being  that  a  conflict 
is  unnecessary  and  that  some  sort  of  compromise 
may  be  reached,  or  some  common  ground  found, 
so  that  the  faiths  may  become  cooperating  forces. 
History  shows  no  such  tendency  to  agreement. 
The  antagonism  has  grown  sharper  and  the 
dazed  and  wondering  welcome  accorded  the  first 
Muslims  has  changed  to  sullen  and  bitter  hatred. 
The  very  toleration  accorded  by  Muslims  to 
Christianity  is  a  proof  of  the  living  power  of 
Muhammad  who  established  this  law  rather  than 
an  expression  of  the  feeling  of  the  Muslim 
Church  to-day. 

History  shows  that  the  limits  set  by  Muham- 
mad in  the  Quran  to  the  acceptance  of  Christian 
teaching  and  the  limits  set  in  his  practice  to  the 
.principle  of  religious  freedom  are  permanent  and 
iessential  elements  of  Islam.  It  shows,  further- 
more, that  while  Islam  is  capable  of  very  great 
modification,  the  supremacy  of  Muhammad  is 
challenged  only  by  those  outside  its  pale.  Shi'ite 
and  Sunnite,  Sufi  and  Wahabi,  alike  accept  the 


THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  FAST  209 

permanent  authority  of  the  Quran  and  the  abid- 
ing apostolate  of  Muhammad,  although  they 
differ  in  other  things.  And  does  Christ  have  less 
honor  among  his  followers  ?  Can  we  yield  his 
unique  and  absolute  authority  ?  In  other  words, 
the  point  of  conflict  is  one  of  the  first  impor- 
tance to  both  religions.  Because  the  differences 
are  defined  and  limited,  the  conflict  is  the 
sharper.  Neither  faith  can  compromise.  The 
ultimate  question  is  the  personal  supremacy  of 
Muhammad  or  of  Christ. 

We  find  in  the  history  incentives  to  active 
effort.  One  such  is  the  very  difificulty  of  the 
task.  If  Islam  be,  as  is  so  often  said,  the  most 
formidable  enemy  that  the  church  meets  in  the 
battle-field  of  missions,  if  history  shows  that  for 
long  centuries  Christianity  and  Islam  have  been 
face  to  face,  and  if  the  apparent  victory  rests 
with  the  Prophet  who  challenged  the  supremacy 
of  the  Christ,  surely  these  are  reasons  for  in- 
creased courage  and  activity.  Because  the  con- 
flict has  been  and,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  will  be 
one  of  special  difficulty,  the  greater  is  the  in- 
centive. 

The  measure  of  success  reached  by  Christianity 
and  the  courageous  persistence  with  which   ori- 


210    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

ental  Christians  have  held  the  faith  is  another  in- 
centive to  effort.  If  a  divided,  distracted  Chris- 
tianity, tied  down  in  its  organization  and  the- 
ology to  the  divisive  disputes  of  the  past,  cut  off 
from  the  communion  and  aid  of  the  church  in 
other  lands,  reduced  to  a  position  of  civil  inferi- 
ority, and  in  the  midst  of  anarchy  and  revolution, 
could  do  what  the  Nestorian  Church  did,  what 
should  we  not  be  able  to  do  in  this  age?  The 
faithful  confession  of  the  name  of  Christ  by  the 
ancient  Christian  churches  of  the  East  is  an  in- 
spiration to  us  who  have  known  more  of  the  full- 
ness of  that  holy  name.  And  the  failures  of  the 
past  urge  us  on,  the  double  failure — that  of  Chris- 
tianity to  hold  and  to  gain  the  supremacy  and 
that  of  Islam  to  make  right  use  of  victory  gained, 
so  as  to  preserve  the  heritage  of  the  past  and  to 
effect  the  moral  regeneration  of  society.  Nothing 
can  be  gained  by  attempting  to  conceal  the  fail- 
ure of  Christianity  in  Western  Asia.  Much  is  to 
be  gained  by  learning  the  causes  of  its  failure. 
Much  more  is  to  be  hoped  for  by  the  realization 
of  the  fact  that  its  failure  in  the  past  places  us 
under  obligations  to  prove  its  right  to  rule  by  its 
ability  to  overcome.  And  if  the  failure  of  Chris- 
tianity is  an  incentive  to  effort,  what  shall  we  say 


THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  PAST  211 

of  the  failure  of  Islam  ?  Nothing  reveals  charac- 
ter more  surely  than  success,  and  no  failure  is  so 
fundamental  as  failure  in  success.  Islam  has  so 
failed.  Modern  research  is  revealing  more  clearly 
year  by  year  the  ancient  civilizations  of  Western 
Asia,  and  we  are  learning  how  highly  developed 
they  were,  how  magnificent  were  their  cities,  and 
how  vast  was  the  population.  The  glories  of  the 
early  Khalifat  and  of  the  other  Muslim  dynasties 
that  have  ruled  in  more  short-lived  magnificence 
are  but  the  relics  of  these  ancient  civilizations 
and  not  a  new  creation.  In  its  glory  Islam  built 
Baghdad  out  of  the  ruins  of  Seleucia  and  Ctesi- 
phon  and  in  its  decadence  the  Sultan  worships  in 
the  church  of  the  Emperors.  Islam  has  failed  to 
preserve  the  heritage  of  antiquity.  The  destruc- 
tive forces  have  been  barbarous  and  not  religious, 
but  Islam  has  failed  to  regenerate  them.  The 
nomad  Arab  is  the  same  to-day  as  in  the  days  of 
ignorance  before  Muhammad,  and  Arabia  is  still 
unknown  and  unexplored.  The  Turk  has  been 
supreme  in  Western  Asia  for  nine  hundred  years, 
and  for  that  period  and  longer  Islam  has  been 
the  rehgion  of  the  Turkish  conquerors,  except 
for  less  than  a  century  of  the  domination  of 
heathen  Mongols.     In  Europe  Christianity  con- 


212    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

verted  the  barbarians,  and  since  their  conver- 
sion they  have  risen  to  heights  of  civilization 
never  known  before.  It  conquered  the  invaders 
and  they  became  the  benefactors  of  the  world. 
In  Western  Asia,  Islam  also  conquered  the  in- 
vaders, and  they  have  learned  some  of  the  arts  of 
civilization ;  but  nevertheless  the  Turk  remains  a 
menace  to  the  world.  The  most  civilized  and  the 
most  industrious  portions  of  the  population  of 
Muhammadan  lands  are  the  Christians;  Syrians, 
Armenians,  Greeks,  and  Copts.  A  thousand 
years  ago  Islam  was  more  tolerant  than  Christian- 
ity, but  to-day  Christendom  is  leaving  tolera- 
tion behind,  a  relic  of  the  past,  and  grants  free- 
dom.    The  failure  of  Islam  calls  for  the  gospel. 

A  question  very  closely  related  to  the  history 
that  we  have  studied  is  that  of  the  relation  of 
missionary  work  to  the  oriental  churches.  There 
are  three  different  policies  toward  these  churches 
in  practice  among  missionaries.  One  is  that  of 
absorbing  them  into  some  larger  church  body. 
This  has  been  practiced  by  the  Church  of  Rome 
for  centuries,  and  is  the  policy  of  the  Orthodox 
Church  of  Russia  toward  all  except  the  Greek 
branch  of  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Church,  which 
is  of  course  its  mother  church.     A  second  policy 


THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  FAST  213 

is  that  of  ma^intaining  the  old  churches  in  their 
present  organization.  This  is  the  poUcy  of  the 
Anglicans,  embodied  especially  in  the  mission 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  to  the  Assyrian 
Christians  (/.  e.,  the  Nestorians) ;  but  even  with 
them  it  is  not  carried  out  rigorously,  for  in  obedi- 
ence to  their  theory  of  the  church,  the  oriental 
churches,  except  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church, 
are  heretical  and  schismatic  and  accordingly 
ought  to  return  to  their  mother  church.  They 
are  thus  led  to  sympathize  with  the  aim  of  the 
Russian  Church,  but  not  with  that  of  the  Church 
of  Rome.  The  third  attitude  is  that  of  recogniz- 
ing the  necessity  of  a  reformation  which  shall 
embody  the  positive  results  of  the  Protestant 
Reformation,  even  if  the  accomplishment  of  this 
end  requires  division  and  separation  from  the  old 
church.  Protestant  missionaries  began  their  work 
in  these  oriental  churches  with  an  earnest  attempt 
to  avoid  any  division  in  them.  Perhaps  it  was 
attempting  a  difficult  task  without  realizing  the 
difficulties  of  the  situation,  but  it  was  honest.  It 
failed,  and  independent  bodies  have  been  or- 
ganized, having  polities  allied  to  those  of  the 
churches  sending  the  missionaries,  but  in  theory 
entirely  self-governing.     It  is  not  the  purpose  to 


214    ISLAM  AND   TEE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

discuss  these  various  policies,  except  to  point  out 
what  seem  to  be  the  right  deductions  from  the 
history  as  to  general  principles  and  aims,  for  such 
a  discussion  would  involve  the  different  views  of 
the  essential  character  and  organization  of  the 
church  and  the  content  of  Christian  doctrine, 
loyalty  to  which  is  the  basis  of  much  of  the  di- 
vergence in  missionary  policy.  Very  much  of 
sympathy  and  mutual  appreciation  of  services 
done  is  possible  where  formal  cooperation  is  im- 
possible, and  in  the  relations  of  the  different 
Christian  missions  much  is  gained  by  the  recog- 
nition of  the  fundamental  differences  that  make 
the  outward  divergences  inevitable. 

The  history  of  the  past  gives  the  oriental 
churches  a  right  to  consideration  and  sympathy. 
What  they  have  done  and  what  they  have  suf- 
fered alike  demand  this.  We  have  no  right  to 
cut  the  children  off  from  the  memory  and  herit- 
age of  their  fathers.  They  have  a  past  full  of 
inspiration  and  heroism  to  which  they  must  be 
true.  That  same  history  also  shows  the  necessity 
of  reformation.  The  Church  exists  not  for  itself 
but  for  its  Master  and  to  accomplish  the  work 
which  he  came  to  do.  The  oriental  churches 
have   shown   their  inability  to   accomplish   the 


THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  PAST  215 

work  that  is  theirs.  This  inabihty,  so  far  as  it  is 
due  to  isolation  calls  for  our  cooperation.  So  far 
as  it  is  due  to  an  inadequate  conception  of  Chris- 
tian truth  or  to  spiritual  deadness,  it  calls  for  our 
aid  and  inspiration  to  higher  things.  The  great 
aim  of  all  efforts  in  their  behalf  is  not  to  preserve 
them  but  to  enable  them  to  accomplish  more  fully 
the  manifest  duty  and  privilege  that  is  theirs  be- 
cause of  their  situation  and  opportunity.  To  aid 
them  merely  for  their  own  sake  is  not  missionary 
work  in  a  true  sense,  and  much  less  is  it  a  suffi- 
cient motive  to  work  for  them  in  order  to  prose- 
lyte them  to  our  particular  form  of  Christian 
teaching  or  church  order.  The  supreme  aim  of 
work  for  them  must  be  to  enable  them  to  accom- 
plish their  historic  mission,  which  is  distinctly 
missionary.  All  work  for  them  and  all  methods 
of  work  should  be  subordinated  to  this  great  aim. 
The  truest  loyalty  to  the  past  is  to  carry  forward 
to  completion  its  highest  endeavors.  If  the  mis- 
sion of  the  oriental  churches  can  best  be  accom- 
plished by  a  change  in  their  form  of  organization, 
surely  that  is  warrant  enough  for  such  a  course. 
What  has  just  been  said  as  to  the  endeavors  of 
the  past  applies  in  a  special  way  to  the  two  Syr- 
ian Churches  whose  history  we  have  been  con- 


216    ISLA3I  AND   TEE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

sidering.  They  have  been  the  missionary- 
churches  of  the  past  in  Asia,  Even  the  Arme- 
nians owe  their  Christianity  to  them.  They,  too, 
have  suffered  most  from  Islam  and  from  the  an- 
archy of  Asiatic  history.  The  very  absence  of 
national  ambitions  and  hopes  makes  them  more 
easily  moved  by  missionary  appeals  and  makes 
their  religion  freer  from  political  color.  Their 
adaptation  to  missionary  work,  in  the  case  of  in- 
dividuals, is  one  of  the  proven  facts  of  the  mod- 
ern Protestant  missionary  endeavor  in  Persia.  It 
is  evident  that  in  the  accomplishment  of  this 
mission  the  oriental  churches  will  need  the  best 
equipment  possible,  the  strongest  spiritual  endue- 
ment,  and  the  best  training.  The  duty  that  rests 
upon  us  is  not  measured  by  their  needs  in  them- 
selves but  by  their  needs  in  relation  to  the 
broader  mission  to  which  they  have  been  called. 
Nor  does  the  accomplishment  of  this  mission  de- 
pend necessarily  on  the  reformation  of  the  whole 
body.  In  missionary  work  from  the  beginning 
individuals  have  played  a  great  part  and  if  the 
net  result  of  missions  among  these  oriental 
churches  be  the  raising  up  from  them  of  single 
workers  who  accomplish  great  things  for  God, 
that  is  no  small  result.     It  is  possible  also  that 


THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  PAST  217 

members  of  any  one  of  the  oriental  churches, 
having  a  new  vision  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  and 
of  the  mission  of  the  church,  may  do  the  great- 
est good  when  separated  from  the  parent  body. 
I  do  not  believe  that  such  separation  should  be 
sought,  but  experience  shows  that  it  is  inevitable. 
The  reformation  of  the  old  churches  themselves 
may  be  hastened  by  the  presence  alongside  of 
them  of  bodies  of  Christians  practising  a  simpler 
and  more  active  faith.  Furthermore,  the  active 
proselyting  efforts  of  the  Roman  Catholic  and 
the  Russian  Orthodox  Churches  are  tending  con- 
stantly to  the  disintegration  of  the  oriental 
churches,  and  practically,  by  force  of  theological 
theory  and  in  spite  of  a  real  reluctance,  the  work 
of  the  Anglican  Church  tends  in  the  same 
direction. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  only  hope 
of  national  ecclesiastical  existence  and  the  ac- 
complishment of  their  religious  mission  by  the 
Syrian  Churches  is  to  be  found  in  a  Protestant 
reformation  embodied  in  free  churches.  While 
holding  this  conviction,  we  can  rejoice  in  the  evi- 
dence, especially  in  the  national  Armenian 
Church,  of  regenerating  influences  and  in  the 
efforts  of  enlightened,  devoted  members  of  the 


218     ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

English-speaking  Episcopal  Churches  to  arouse 
a  new  spiritual  life  in  the  ancient  churches  under 
the  conditions  of  their  inherited  forms  of  wor- 
ship and  church  order.  In  brief,  the  policy  of 
the  Protestant  missionaries  in  permitting  sepa- 
ration from  the  ancient  churches  is  justified  by  the 
fact  of  history  that  Christianity  as  expressed  and 
limited  by  the  forms  of  beUef  and  organization 
of  the  oriental  churches  has  failed  to  conquer 
Islam  and  that  a  reformation  consequently  is  im- 
perative in  order  to  do  so. 

No  lesson  of  the  history  is  plainer  than  that  it 
is  not  every  form  of  Christianity  that  can  meet 
Islam  with  success,  and  the  question  arises ;  What 
is  the  character  of  the  Christianity  that  shall  win 
the  victory  for  the  faith  ?  It  is  not  meant  that 
we  can  ,i  should  mold  our  religion  altogether 
to  suit  the  needs  of  a  particular  conflict  or  that 
the  fundamentals  of  faith  can  be  tested  in  this 
way ;  but  it  is  true  that  we  should  carefully  ex- 
amine our  faith  and  not  load  it  down  with  what 
is  not  essential  in  content  or  method.  It  is  not 
oriental  Christianity  alone  that  has  failed  to  meet 
adequately  the  needs  of  this  great  conflict,  for 
Roman  and  Greek  Catholicism  have  failed  also. 
Both  have  been  and  are  in  contact  with  Islam 


THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  PAST  219 

and  have  made  very  little  impression  on  it. 
Roman  Catholic  missions  in  Turkey  and  Persia 
go  back  to  the  times  of  the  Crusaders  and  of  the 
Mongols,  and  they  have  very  little  to  show  for 
those  centuries  beside  the  proselyting  of  a  con- 
siderable number  of  oriental  Christians.  Protes- 
tant missions  are  much  more  recent,  the  oldest 
not  yet  a  century  old,  and  it  can  at  least  be 
claimed  confidently  that  they  have  made  more 
impression  on  Islam  than  have  the  Roman 
Catholics.  But  there  is  no  room  for  self-com- 
placent comparison.  The  Christianity  to  meet 
Islam  must  be  the  best  and  strongest  possible. 

In  method  we  can  perhaps  learn  from  both  the 
faiths  in  their  past  conflict.  One  such  lesson  is 
the  importance  of  enlisting  in  the  service  of  mis- 
sions the  great  force  of  commerce.  The  i.  dern 
expansion  of  Christianity  owes  much  to  com- 
merce, though  commerce  owes  a  heavier  debt  to 
missions.  Christian  merchants,  however,  are  not 
yet  reckoned  among  the  active  forces  of  missions, 
and  yet  why  should  they  not  be?  In  the  work 
of  the  church  at  home  and  especially  in  the  great 
cities  the  part  taken  by  laymen  is  great  and  is 
increasing.  Why  should  it  not  be  so  in  the  for- 
eign field  also  ?     Why  should  not  men  go  out 


220    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

into  the  great  roads  of  trade  and  the  great  marts 
of  commerce  to  build  up  the  kingdom  of  God,  as 
the  Empire  of  Britain  has  been  built  up  by  mer- 
chants ?  So  also,  while  the  part  of  physicians  in 
the  direct  work  of  missions  is  very  great,  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  owes  but  little  so  far  to  the 
services  of  physicians  practising  in  foreign  lands 
on  their  own  account.  Why,  again,  should  there 
not  be  many  such  ?  In  some  respects  they  could 
do  a  work  that  no  agent  of  a  foreign  missionary 
society  could  possibly  do.  Again,  it  may  be 
questioned  whether  the  modern  missionary  move- 
ment of  Protestantism  has  availed  itself  as  it 
ought  of  the  monastic  organization.  A  distinc- 
tion may  rightly  be  drawn  between  monasticism 
as  a  life,  an  ideal  of  spiritual  attainment  in  itself, 
and  monasticism  as  a  method.  Something  can 
be  said  for  the  disciphne  of  community  Hfe,  but 
altogether  aside  from  this,  why  should  the 
method  of  community  life,  by  which  it  is  possi- 
ble for  men  to  live  and  work  where  the  condi- 
tions make  the  establishment  of  families  unadvis- 
able,  not  be  adopted  and  used  by  Protestants? 
The  services  of  monks  and  darvishes  alike  sug- 
gest this  lesson  and  it  is  folly  to  cast  it  aside  be- 
cause of  its  association  with  Roman  Catholicism. 


THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  PAST  221 

The  Avork  is  so  great,  the  needs  so  pressing,  and 
the  difficulties  such  that  new  forces  and  new 
methods  are  called  for.  The  example  and  ideal 
of  the  Christian  home  with  its  practical  illustra- 
tion of  the  dignity  and  worth  of  womanhood  are 
indispensable  in  Muslim  lands ;  but  there  is  a 
work  of  widespread  evangelization  that  it  would 
seem  can  best  be  accomplished  by  some  adapta- 
tion of  the  principle  of  monastic  organization. 

The  importance  of  freedom  in  organization  is 
another  lesson  of  the  history.  In  this  Islam  had 
the  great  advantage  over  the  developed  form  of 
Christianity.  It  was  free  and  had  no  elaborate 
gradation  in  rank  and  in  niceties  of  church  order 
to  enforce  on  new  converts.  Along  with  the 
simplicity  of  organization  went  a  simplicity  of 
statement  of  doctrine.  Modern  Christianity  has 
learned  in  large  measure  the  necessity  of  present- 
ing the  gospel  in  its  simplest  terms  to  new  con- 
verts, but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  in  educa- 
tional and  church  work  the  same  lesson  has  been 
so  well  learned.  The  sense  of  brotherhood,  free- 
dom, and  equality  within  the  pale  of  the  faith  has 
been  a  great  force  in  Muslim  expansion  as  it  was 
in  early  Christianity.  That  feeling  is  obscured 
by  anything  which  places  a  barrier  between  the 


222    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHUBCHES 

missionary  and  the  people,  or  between  part  of 
the  people  and  the  rest.  The  difference  in  civili- 
zation, in  kind  as  well  as  in  degree,  between  the 
missionary  and  the  people  is  a  barrier,  and  is 
one  reason  that  wide  evangelization  must  be  ac- 
complished largely  by  a  native  agency.  An 
elaborate  and  rigid  organization  of  the  church  is 
another  barrier.  In  educational  work  a  system, 
a  curriculum,  too  large  a  number  of  students, 
may  be  such  barriers  and  may  prevent  the  fellow- 
ship that  is  the  very  soul  of  discipleship.  There 
is  scarcely  a  better  test,  from  the  missionary's 
point  of  view,  of  the  rightfulness  of  any  method 
of  church  organization  than  that  of  the  reali- 
zation through  it  of  equal  fellowship  in  Christ. 
Such  fellowship  implies  an  equal  share  in  the 
duties  as  well  as  in  the  privileges  of  the  Christian 
life,  if  such  a  distinction  be  at  all  permissible.  It 
makes  the  members,  as  no  mere  plan  of  organi- 
zation can,  individual  forces  in  the  expansive 
work,  a  consummation  which  more  than  any 
other  one  thing  is  the  secret  of  rapid  evangeliza- 
tion. When  one  reads  of  the  rapid  spread  of 
Islam  in  Central  Africa  and  in  the  East  Indies, 
and  realizes  that  its  extension  makes  the  work  of 
Christian  evangelization  many  times  more  slow 


THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  PAST  223 

and  difficult,  it  is  impossible  to  repress  the  feel- 
ing that  the  Church  of  Christ  needs  not  only  a 
new  baptism  of  zeal  but  also  a  new  enduement 
of  wisdom  in  order  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
time.  The  great  brotherhoods  of  darvishes  are 
preaching  Islam,  unpaid  and  with  little  machin- 
ery, while  the  great  Church  of  Christ  moves 
ponderously. 

Theologically  Christianity  will  conquer  Islam 
not  because  of  what  is  common  to  the  two  re- 
ligions, but  because  of  what  is  different.  It  is 
folly  to  suppose  that  men  will  accept  a  new  faith 
for  anything  except  for  its  superiority  over  that 
which  they  possess  ;  and  the  great  superiority 
of  Christianity  is  in  those  things  which  Islam 
does  not  have.  Christ  is  greater  than  Muhammad 
because  he  is  divine,  and  the  Christian  hope  of 
life  is  more  blessed  than  that  of  Islam  because 
its  foundations  are  different.  It  is  based  on  an 
Atonement  and  is  made  possible  by  an  Incarna- 
tion. The  Christian  idea  of  God  is  higher  be- 
cause of  those  elements  and  those  facts  that  have 
led  to  the  formulation  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity. 

Furthermore,  the  Christianity  that  can  conquer 
Islam  will  hold  these  doctrines  with  no  doubtful 


224     ISLAM  AND    THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

assent  but  as  living  forces  feeding  the  springs  of 
life  and  answering  the  soul's  deepest  needs. 
They  will  be  more  than  dogmas.  Within  the 
growing  body  of  the  church  itself  and  on  its 
outskirts,  we  must  surely  look  for  the  same  kind 
of  development  that  is  found  in  the  early  history 
of  Christianity  and  in  the  history  of  Islam.  I 
mean  the  springing  up  of  variations  and  even 
perversions  of  doctrine.  The  almost  entire  ab- 
sence of  such  phenomena,  which  marks  the  his- 
tory of  the  oriental  churches  after  a  certain  era, 
is  an  evidence  of  their  weakness ;  and  the  recur- 
rence of  such  events  in  the  history  of  missions 
should  be  a  cause  of  encouragement.  The  church 
to-day  should  have  attained  to  a  clearness  in  the 
apprehension  of  truth  as  well  as  to  a  charity  in 
its  relation  to  divergences  in  expressing  it  that 
will  enable  it  to  guide  wisely  the  growth  of  belief 
in  mission  lands.  It  is  inconceivable  that  an 
elaborate  system  of  theology  such  as  Islam  pos- 
sesses can  be  at  once  replaced  by  a  system  of 
Christian  theology.  A  process  must  intervene 
and  in  that  process  variations  must  arise.  No 
fact  in  modern  Persian  life  is  more  truly  full  of 
encouragement  than  the  way  in  which  the  Bible 
is  entering  into  the  intellectual  life  of  the  coun- 


THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  PAST  225 

try.  It  is  perplexing  to  meet  a  keen  Babi  contro- 
versialist and  to  find  how  he  can  turn  to  his  own 
ends  the  statements  of  prophecy  and  of  doctrine 
in  the  Bible,  but  it  is  also  to  be  welcomed  as  a 
proof  that  Christianity  has  a  hold  on  the  mind 
of  the  people  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  direct 
missionary  influence.  The  Christianity  that  will 
conquer  must  be  able  to  take  hold  of  the  simple, 
ignorant  folk,  and  also  to  enter  into  the  thought 
and  life  of  the  cultured  and  intellectual.  It  must 
be  able  to  replace  a  false  philosophy  with  a  true 
and  to  grapple  with  the  metaphysical  problems 
that  hold  the  oriental  mind. 

Finally,  it  must  realize  that  the  real  conqueror 
is  Christ  and  the  real  force  is  his  Spirit.  The 
truths  that  Islam  lacks  are  found  in  him — the 
Incarnation  by  which  God  has  brought  man  into 
living  union  with  himself,  the  forgiveness  on  the 
basis  of  an  Atonement,  the  Fatherhood  of  God, 
at  once  righteous  and  merciful.  The  contrast  of 
Islam  and  Christianity  is  the  contrast  between 
Christ  and  Muhammad,  that  is,  the  contrast  of 
the  ideals  to  which  the  religions  are  tending,  ob- 
scured in  history  but  fixed  in  the  foundations  of 
the  faiths  and  inalienable  from  them.  I  do  not 
see  how  any  man,  Christian  in  even  the  remotest 


226     ISLA3r  AND    THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

sense,  can  fail  to  acknowledge  the  superiority, 
nay  the  indispensableness,  of  Christianity,  if  the 
question  be  brought  to  this  test,  whether  he 
would  be  willing  himself  or  could  counsel  any 
other  to  put  Muhammad  where  he  holds  Christ. 
In  this  point  of  view,  one  cannot  but  agree  with 
Joseph  Parker  in  saying,  "  There  are  comparative 
religions,  but  Christianity  is  not  one  of  them." 
The  story  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  character,  his  love, 
his  death,  denied  by  the  Prophet  in  shallow  flat- 
tery— the  preaching  of  these  shall  win  men  to 
him.  The  character  of  Christ,  exemplified  in  the 
purity  of  the  home,  in  the  tenderness  of  the  phy- 
sician, in  the  righteous  life  and  preaching  of  the 
missionary,  shall  lead  men  to  realize  something 
of  holiness  and  of  sin.  And  the  patience  of 
Christ,  his  self-devotion,  his  love  to  the  very  end, 
these  shall  give  us  the  power  to  endure,  though 
the  conflict  be  long  and  difficult.  And  Christ, 
the  living  Son  of  God,  shall  himself  be  with  us 
and  lead  us  on  to  victory. 


APPENDIX   I 

CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE 

A.  D.  A.  H. 

Council  of  Ephesus,  Condemnation   of 

Nestorius 431 

Council  of    Chalcedon,    Monophysitism 

condemned 453 

Organization  of  Nestorianism  in  Persian 

Empire      ca.  490 

Organization  of  Jacobite  Church  ...  oe.  550 

Birth  of  Muhammad 570 

Wars  of  Heraclius  and  Khusru  .    .    .  610 — 626 
Beginning  of  Muhammad's   prophetic 

career 611 

The  Flight  to  Medina,  the  Hijra  ,    .    ,  622                   I 

The  Death  of  Muhammad 632                 II 

Four  "  Orthodox  "  Khalifas,  Abu  Bakr, 

Umar,  Uthman,   Ali 632 — 661        II —  40 

Conquest  of  Jerusalem,  Syria 637                  16 

Conquest  of  Persia 642                 21 

Umayyid  Khalifas  of  Damascus    .    .    .  661 — 750      41 — 132 

John  of  Damascus 700 — 750 

Abbasid  Khalifas  of  Baghdad    ....  756-1258     132 — 656 

Harun  ur   Rashid 786 — 809     170 — 193 

Mamun,  Khalifa 813 — 833     198 — 218 

Timothy,  Nestorian  Patriarch    ....  780 — 820     163 — 205 
Samanids,  rulers  of  Khurasan  and  Trans- 

oxiana 874 — 999     261 — 389 

Buwayhids,  rulers  of  Baghdad  ....  945 — 1055     334 — 447 

Sultans  of  Ghazna,  rulers  of  Persia  .    .  997 — 1040     387 — 431 

Seljuk  Turks   . 1037 — 1300    429 — 700 

227 


228     ISLA3I  AND    THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

Saladin 1 169 — 1193  5^4 — 5^9 

Crusades •   .    .    .    .  iioo — 1250 

Mongol  rule  in  Persia,  etc 1220 — 1349  617 — 750 

Jingis  Khan 1206 — 1227  603 — 624 

Hulagu  Khan 1256 — 1265  654 — 663 

Sack  of  Baghdad  and  murder  of  Khalifa               1258  658 

Ghazan  Khan           1295 — 1304  694 — 703 

Timur  (Tamerlane) 1369 — 1405  771 — 807 


APPENDIX  II 

SELECT  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Note. — The  following  list  makes  no  preten- 
sions to  be  exhaustive  in  any  sense,  or  even  to 
contain  the  names  of  all  the  works  quoted  in  the 
foregoing  pages  or  consulted  in  their  preparation. 
It  is  "intended  merely  to  suggest  some  of  the  most 
useful  books.  FuU  bibhographies  may  be  found 
in  Zwemer's  Arabia,  the  Cradle  of  Islam,  and  in 
Arnold's  The  Preaching  of  Islam. 

Lives  of  Aluhammad. 
Sir  William  Muir, 

Johnstone's  Muhammad  and  His  Power, 
Sprenger's  Life — (in  German). 

The  Quran. 

Translations  with  introductions  and  notes,  especially  Pal- 
mer's, Rodwell's,  and  Sale's, 
Sell's  Historical  Development  of  the  Quran, 
Poole's  Selections  from  the  Koran. 

General  Account  of  Islam. 

Hughes,  Dictionary  of  Islam, 

Sell,  Faith  of  Islam,  Essays  on  Islam, 

Ameer  Syed  Ali,  Life  and  Teachings  of  Mohammed  or  The 

Spirit  of  Islam, 
Zwemer,  Arabia,  the  Cradle  of  Islam, 
Lane,  Modern  Egyptians. 

229 


230    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

Oriental  Christianity. 

Harnack's  History  of  Christian  Dogma, 

(Also  general  works  on  Church  History  and  Encyclopedias), 

(For   special    investigation,  Assemani    Bibliotheca    Orien- 

talis,  Abbeloos  et  Lamy,  Gregorii  Heberjei  Chronicon 

Ecclesiasticum, 
Bedjan,  Gregorii  Hebersi  Chronicon  Syriacum, 
Chabot,  Histoire  de  Mar  Jabalaha  HI.) 

Origins  of  Islam. 

Deutsch,  Literary  Remains, 

Geiger,  Judaism  and  Islam, 

Wellhausen,  Skizzen  and  Vorarbeiten,  iii., 

Smith,  Bible  and  Islam, 

St.  Clair-Tisdall,  Sources  of  Islam. 

History  of  Islam. 

Macdonald,  Development  of  Muslim  Theology,  Jurispru- 
dence, and  Constitutional  Theory, 
Muir,  The  Caliphate, 
Freeman,  History  of  the  Saracens, 
Von  Kremer,  Culturgeschichte  des  Orients, 
Miiller,  Der  Islam  im  Morgen-und  Abendland, 
Howorth,  History  of  the  Mongols. 


APPENDIX  III 

THE  DIVISIONS  OF  ORIENTAL  CHRISTIANITY 

The  following  brief  statement  is  inserted  for 
the  benefit  of  readers  who  may  not  have  access 
to  church  histories, 

Christianity  in  its  first  spread  took  hold  of  the 
Greek  and  the  Syrian  peoples  and  very  soon 
after  of  the  inhabitants  of  Egypt.  During  the 
first  five  Christian  centuries  the  Armenians  and 
Abyssinians  as  peoples  and  considerable  num- 
bers of  Persians  and  Arabs  accepted  Christianity. 
Various  causes  gave  rise  to  the  theological  con- 
troversies that  make  up  so  much  of  the  history  of 
the  church.  These  controversies  gave  occasion 
and  furnished  leaders  for  divisions  which  followed 
linguistic  and  racial  lines.  Thus  the  Greeks 
formed  the  great  body  of  the  Orthodox  or  Greek 
Eastern  Church,  the  Syrians  divided  between  the 
Nestorian  and  Jacobite  Churches  and  later  the 
Maronite  Church,  the  bulk  of  the  people  of  Egypt 
formed  the  Coptic  Church,  while  the  Abyssinians 
and  Armenians  form  the  national  churches  of 
231 


832    ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

those  names.  In  fact,  wherever  Christianity  be- 
came the  national  faith  one  or  more  national 
churches  were  formed.  The  ruling  conception 
of  the  church  and  the  temper  of  Christianity 
made  schism  the  natural  way  for  the  formation 
of  such  churches.  The  persecuting  policy  of  the 
emperors  tended  to  widen  and  embitter  differ- 
ences in  theological  belief.  The  condemnation 
of  Nestorius  at  the  Council  of  Ephesus  in  a.  d. 
431  was  a  blow  at  the  Antiochian  school  of  the- 
ology, which  was  already  dominant  at  Edessa 
and  further  East.  The  Persian  kings  were  some 
of  them  bitter  persecutors  of  Christianity  and 
the  Christians  living  within  the  Persian  Empire 
were  suspected  of  treasonable  intentions  to  aid 
the  Roman  power  when  engaged  in  war  with 
Persia.  The  leaders  of  the  Persian  Church, 
especially  Barsumas,  bishop  of  Nisibis,  saw  that 
by  espousing  the  Nestorian  cause  they  would  re- 
move this  suspicion  and  gain  a  more  favorable 
position  in  the  Persian  kingdom.  The  Jacobite 
writers  charge  that  the  Persian  authorities  fa- 
vored the  Nestorians  so  far  as  to  persecute  in 
their  interest.  A  minority  of  the  Christians  in 
the  Persian  Empire,  however,  refused  to  accept 
Nestorianism.    Some  of  these  were  later  identified 


APPENDIX  III  233 

with  the  Jacobite  Church,  while  others  remained 
faithful  to  the  Orthodox  Church  and  were  called 
Melchites,  z.  e.,  adherents  of  the  (Greek)  king. 
The  process  that  resulted  in  the  organization  of 
the  Nestorian  Church  was  completed  about  sixty 
years  after  the  Council  of  Ephesus. 

The  peculiar  Christological  teaching  that  be- 
came the  distinguishing  mark  of  the  Nestorian 
Church  introduces  a  third  term  into  the  formula 
that  defines  the  Person  of  Christ  and  says  that  in 
^  his  single  person  he  possesses  not  only  two  dis- 
tinct natures  but  also  two  hypostases  or  person- 
alities, one  divine  and  one  human,  insisting  that 
an  impersonal  nature  is  inconceivable.  Syria, 
purged  by  the  government  of  Nestorianism,  re- 
fused to  accept  the  "  Orthodox  "  faith  and  the 
mass  of  the  people  joined  the  opposite  wing  and 
accepted  Monophysitism,  maintaining  not  merely 
the  union  but  also  the  fusion  of  the  divine  and 
human  natures.  It  is  unnecessary  here  to  men- 
tion the  various  subdivisions  of  Monophysite 
teaching.  In  spite  of  opposition  by  the  govern- 
ment, Monophysitism  held  its  own  and  finalh', 
about  a  century  after  its  condemnation  by  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon  (a.  d.  451),  was  organized 
by  Jacob   Baradai  into  what  has  been  known  as 


234     ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL    CHURCHES 

the  Jacobite  Church.  It  was  in  reahty  the  na- 
tional Syrian  Church  within  the  bounds  of  the 
Eastern  Empire.  The  growth  of  the  Arab 
power  speedily  brought  them  for  the  most  part, 
though  not  entirely,  under  Muslim  rule.  Aside 
from  the  Christological  differences,  the  Nestorian 
and  Jacobite  Churches  differed  from  each  other 
in  that  the  former  was  simpler  in  its  worship  and 
practices.  Its  liturgy  is  briefer  and  more  primi- 
tive. The  differences  are  important  merely  be- 
cause they  furnished  boundaries  and  barriers. 
The  other  churches  do  not  enter  into  the  scope 
of  this  work  and  cannot  be  discussed  here.  Their 
development  was  along  national  lines  and  in  the 
case  of  the  Armenians  especially  the  theological 
difference  seems  to  have  been  entirely  fortuitous. 


APPENDIX  IV 

THE   CONSTITUTION   OF  UMAR 
(^Fro7n  Arnold's  Freaching  of  Islam, ^sf.") 

"  The  So-Called  Ordinance  of  Uniar. 

"  This  formula  is  traditionally  said  to  have  been 
the  one  adopted  by  the  Christian  cities  that  sub- 
mitted to  the  Muslim  army ;  but  none  of  the 
earliest  Muhammadan  historians  give  it,  and  Sir 
WiUiam  Muir  doubts  its  authenticity  and  consid- 
ers that  it  contains  oppressive  terms  that  are 
more  characteristic  of  later  times  than  of  the 
reign  of  the  tolerant  Umar.  •  In  the  name  of 
God,  the  Merciful,  the  Compassionate  I  This  is 
the  writing  from  the  Christians  of  such  and  such 
a  city  to  Umar  ibnu-1  Khattab.  When  you 
marched  against  us,  we  asked  of  you  protection 
for  ourselves,  our  families,  our  possessions  and 
our  coreligionists  ;  and  we  made  this  stipulation 
with  you,  that  we  will  not  erect  in  our  city  or  the 
suburbs  any  new  monastery,  church,  cell  or  her- 
mitage ;  that  we  will  not  repair  any  of  such 
buildings  that  may  fall  into  ruins,  or  renew  those 
that  may  be  situated  in  the  Muslim  quarters  of 
235 


236    ISLAM  AND    THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

the  town ;  that  we  will  not  refuse  the  Muslims 
entry  into  our  churches  either  by  night  or  by 
day ;  that  we  will  open  the  gates  wide  to  pas- 
sengers and  travelers ;  that  we  will  receive  any 
Muslim  traveler  into  our  houses  and  give  him 
food  and  lodging  for  three  nights ;  that  we  will 
not  harbor  any  spy  in  our  churches  or  houses,  or 
conceal  any  enemy  of  the  Muslims  ;  that  we  will 
not  teach  our  children  the  Quran ;  that  we  will 
not  make  a  show  of  the  Christian  religion  nor 
invite  any  one  to  embrace  it ;  that  we  will  not 
prevent  any  of  our  kinsmen  from  embracing 
Islam,  if  they  so  desire.  That  we  will  honor  the 
Muslims  and  rise  up  in  our  assemblies  when  they 
wish  to  take  their  seats ;  that  we  will  not  imitate 
them  in  our  dress,  either  in  the  cap,  turban, 
sandals,  or  parting  of  the  hair ;  that  we  will  not 
make  use  of  their  expressions  of  speech,  nor 
adopt  their  surnames ;  that  we  will  not  ride  on 
saddles,  or  gird  on  swords,  or  take  to  ourselves 
arms  or  wear  them,  or  engrave  Arabic  inscrip- 
tions on  our  rings ;  that  we  will  not  sell  wine ; 
that  we  will  shave  the  front  of  our  heads  ;  that 
we  will  keep  to  our  own  style  of  dress,  wherever 
we  may  be ;  that  we  will  wear  girdles  round  our 
waists ;  that  we  will  not  display  the  cross  upon 


APPENDIX  IV  237 

our  churches  or  display  our  crosses  or  our  sacred 
books  ill  the  streets  of  the  MusHms,  or  in  their 
market-places  ;  that  we  will  strike  the  bells  in  our 
churches  lightly;  that  we  will  not  recite  our 
services  in  a  loud  voice,  when  a  Muslim  is  pres- 
ent, that  we  will  not  carry  pahn-branches  or  our 
images  in  procession  in  the  streets,  that  at  the 
burial  of  our  dead  we  will  not  chant  loudly  or 
carry  lighted  candles  in  the  streets  of  the 
Muslims  or  their  market-places  ;  that  we  will  not 
take  any  slaves  that  have  already  been  in  the 
possession  of  Muslims,  nor  spy  into  their  houses  ; 
and  that  we  will  not  strike  any  Muslim.  All  this 
we  promise  to  observe,  on  behalf  of  ourselves 
and  our  coreligionists,  and  receive  protection 
from  you  in  exchange ;  and  if  we  violate  any  of 
the  conditions  of  this  agreement,  then  we  forfeit 
your  protection  and  you  are  at  liberty  to  treat  us 
as  enemies  and  rebels.'  " 

But  Von  Kremer,  the  best  historian  of  the  Arab 
rule,  takes  a  much  more  unfavorable  view  of 
Umar's  character  and  says,  "  So  Umar  established 
that  fanatical,  intolerant  attitude,  which  for  more 
than  a  thousand  years  has  been  an  essential  char- 
acteristic of  Islam.  It  was  his  inflexible,  strong 
spirit,  full  of  scorn  and  contempt  toward  all  non- 


238     ISLAM  AND    THE   ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

Muslims  in  the  conquered  lands,  which  Umar  in- 
spired into  Islam,  and  this  spirit  has  worked  on 
through  a  long  course  of  centuries  as  its  chief 
force  and  life  principle."  ^ 

'  Geschichte  des  Herrschenden  Ideen  des  hlaviSy  333, 


APPENDIX  V 

THE   RELATION    OF    THE   PATRIARCHS   TO    THE 
KHALIFAS 

The  following  historical  incidents  will  serve  to 
illustrate  what  this  relation  was  : 
/.     hi  Sassanian  Times. 

About  425  Marabokht  was  ordained  patri- 
arch at  the  command  of  Bahram's  generalissimo, 
whom  he  had  bribed. — Bar  Hebraeus,  Ec.  Chron., 
ii.  20,  ed.  Abbeloos-Lamy,  n.,  p.  54. 

During  the  patriarchate  of  Elisha  (520-532)  a 
rival  Narses  intrigued  for  the  support  of  the 
king.  The  former  was  aided  by  the  royal  phy- 
sician and  the  king  finally  put  Narses  in  prison, 
where  he  died. — Assemani,  Bib.  Orientalis,  III. 
I  :  167 ;  De  Catliolicis,  23. 

Joseph  (552-555)  was  elected  patriarch  by  the 
aid  of  Khusru  Anushirvan.  He  was  later  de- 
posed, and  during  his  time  a  synod  passed  a  canon 
against  ecclesiastics  who  obtained  preferment 
through  the  influence  of  kings  or  of  others  in  au- 
thority.— Assemani,  De  Catholicis,  29, 
239 


240    ISLA3I  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

The  same  statements  are  made  of  his  successor, 
Ezekiel  (567-580). — De  Catholicis,  31. 

Khusru  Parviz  interfered  to  secure  the  election 
and  later  the  deposition  of  Gregory  (a.  d.  604- 
608)  and  to  his  opposition  was  due  the  interreg- 
num from  608  till  628,  De  Catholicis,  3 1 . —  Thomas 
of  Marga,  ii.  SQf. 

These  incidents  show  that  the  Sassanian  kings 
were  accustomed  to  exercise  some  right  of  con- 
trol in  the  election  of  patriarchs  and  that  the 
Arabs  in  their  policy  followed  an  already  exist- 
ing precedent. 
2.     The  Diplomas  Granted  to  the  Patriarchs. 

The  Nestorian  writers  claim  that  Ishuyabh  II. 
(628-647)  received  a  firman  of  some  sort  from 
Muhammad  and  again  from  Umar,  De  Catholicis, 
41  ff.,  Thomas  of  Marga,  II.,  123,  note.  Also  that 
his  successor  Marameh  obtained  one  from  Ali, 
De  Catholicis,  43f. 

Bar  Hebr^us  in  his  Ecclesiastical  Chronicle 
mentions  a  number  of  instances  in  which  such 
diplomas  were  given  to  Jacobite  patriarchs : 
A.  D.  744  to  John  by  Marwan  (i.  309),  a.  d.  755  to 
Isaac  by  Mansur  (i.  317),  A.  d.  755  to  Sandal  by 
Mansur  (i,  319),  a.  d.  762  to  David,  while  a  rival 
George  was  tortured  for  assuming  office  without 


APPENDIX   V  241 

such  authority  (i.  325),  a.  d.  1095  to  Athanasius 
by  Ahu  Jafar  (ii.  465),  a.  d.  1208  to  John  by  Sul- 
tan Iz-ed  Din  (ii.  625),  also  to  a  patriarch  from 
the  Khalifa  a.  d.  1080  (iii.  307).  Similar  mention 
is  made  of  the  Jacobite  Maphriana  a.  d.  1112 
(iii.  317)  and  of  the  Nestorian  patriarch  Abraham 
III.  A.  D.  905  (iii.  229).  The  practice  passed  over 
into  Mongol  times,  when  the  Jacobite  patriarch 
and  Maphriana  received  papers  from  the  Mongol 
king,  A.  D.  1264  (iii.  433).  Such  papers  were  also 
given  to  the  Nestorian  patriarch  Mar  Yahbhalaha. 
J.  Violent  Interference  of  the  Government  in 
Church  Affairs. 

George,  the  Nestorian  patriarch  (660-680)  was 
imprisoned  by  an  Arab  governor  to  extort  money. 
— Bar  Hebrseus,  Ec.  CJiron.,  131.     Above  p.  130. 

Khnanishu,  Nestorian  patriarch  (685-699),  im- 
prisoned by  Abd  al  Malik  in  interest  of  a  rival 
John,  who  was  himself  later  imprisoned  by  the 
KhaHfa. — Bar  Hebrseus,  Ec.  Chron.^  i3ifir. 
Above  p.  1 30. 

Imprisonment  of  three  patriarchs  by  Mansur. 
See  above  p.  152  for  narrative. — Bar  Hebraeus,  Ec. 
Chron.,  I35f. 

Theodosius,  Nestorian  patriarch  (852-858)  was 
imprisoned  by   Mutawakkil  on  account   of  the 


242    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

Khalifa's  anger  against  Bokhtishu,  a  Nestorian 
patriarch. — Bar  Hebraeus,  iii.  191  f. 

George,  Jacobite  patriarch,  imprisoned  and  tor- 
tured in  A.  D.  762  by  Mansur  and  his  rival  David 
made  patriarch.  Later  Mahdi  released  George. 
— Syriac  Chronicle y  edited  by  Brooks,  Z  D  M  G 
ii.  587,  Bar  Hebraeus,  Ec.  Chron.,  i.  333. 

Marwan  imprisoned  John,  Jacobite  patriarch, 
at  the  instigation  of  certain  bishops  in  order  to 
extort  money  from  him. — Bar  Hebrasus,  Ec. 
Chron.,  i.  309, 

In  A.  D.  755  Mansur  compelled  the  Jacobite 
bishops  to  elect  one  Isaac  patriarch  because  of 
his  supposed  medical  skill,  but  on  the  exposure 
of  his  ignorance  he  was  killed  by  the  Khalifa. — 
Bar  Hebraeus,  Ec.  Chron.,  i.  315. 

The  next  Jacobite  patriarch.  Sandal,  was  set 
up  by  the  force  of  the  Khalifa  and  later  killed  by 
the  Christians. — Bar  Hebraeus,  Ec.  Chro7i.,  i.  319. 

Other  Nestorian  patriarchs  said  by  Bar  Hebraeus 
to  have  been  elected  by  the  aid  and  sometimes 
the  violent  interference  of  the  government  are 
Mari  (a.  d.  987,  iii.  255),  John  II.  (a.  d.  iooo,  iii. 
261),  Ishuyabh  (a.  d.  1020,  iii.  285),  Saurishu 
(a.  d.  1061,  iii.  301),  Yahbhalaha  (a.  d.  1190, 
iii.  371). 


APPENDIX   V  243 

Assemani  mentions  also  the  following  as  hav- 
ing been  elected  through  the  influence  of  the 
Khalifas  and  usually  the  intrigues  of  the  royal 
physicians :  Joshua  bar  Nun  (820-824),  B.  O.  ii. 
435  ;  George  (825-829),  B.  O.  ii.  435  ;  Abraham 
II.  (836-841)  De  Catholicis  94;  Abraham  III. 
(a.  h.  292-325),  B.  O.  ii.  440. 

Two  orthodox  patriarchs  of  Antioch  were 
killed  by  the  Khalifas.  After  the  death  of  the 
first  of  these  there  was  a  vacancy  of  forty  years 
on  account  of  the  opposition  of  the  Khalifa. 
These  were  Alexander  II.,  695-702,  and  Chris- 
topher, 960-966  (Cf.  Bar  Hebraeus,  Syv.  Chron., 
190).  Neale's  Patriarchate  of  Antioch,  i67ff. 
See  also  Appendix  VII. 


APPENDIX  VI 

MOBS  AGAINST  THE  CHRISTIANS 

The  following  examples  of  mobs  will  illustrate 
the  troubles  that  must  have  assailed  the  Chris- 
tians whenever  the  government  was  weak,  as  it 
was  the  most  of  the  time.  They  are  all  taken 
from  the  Ecclesiastical  Chronicle  of  Bar  Hebrseus. 

A  Mardin  Christian  having  been  caught  in 
adultery  with  an  Arab  woman  was  tortured  and 
all  his  goods  confiscated.  A  church  built  by  him 
was  changed  into  a  mosque.  About  the  same 
time  a  monk  apostatized  to  Islam  but  repenting 
fled  to  Jerusalem.  In  consequence  the  Chris- 
tians of  Mardin,  and  especially  his  brothers, 
suffered  severe  exactions. — ii.  56if. 

The  Monastery  of  Mar  Cyriacus  on  the  upper 
Euphrates  was  sacked  by  an  apostate  to  Islam, 
whose  father,  a  wealthy  physician  named  Shimon, 
had  founded  it. — ii.  72  3f. 

About  A.  D.  830.     A  Jacobite  of  Takrit  being 

accused  of  reviling  the  prophet  was  seized  by  a 

mob,  taken  to  Baghdad,  and  put  to  death  by  the 

government  on  refusing  to  apostatize. — iii.  183. 
244 


APPENDIX   VI  245 

A.  D.  832.  Five  churches  in  Basra  were  de- 
stroyed by  a  mob. — iii.  189. 

A.  D.  885.  A  mob  sacked  the  Nestorian 
patriarchal  residence,  disinterring  the  preceding 
patriarch's  body  and  carrying  it  about  the  streets. 
The  occasion  was  a  charge  of  insult  to  a  Muslim 
corpse  made  by  beggars  who  had  been  turned  off 
from  the  patriarchal  door. — iii.  209f. 

A.  D.  990.  Mobs  destroyed  Christian  churches 
in  Baghdad  and  continued  for  some  time  to  rav- 
age the  Christian  quarter  in  spite  of  the  attempts 
of  the  government  to  quiet  them. — iii.  25 /f., 
261-269. 

A.  D.  1057.  The  Nestorian  patriarchal  resi- 
dence in  Baghdad  sacked  by  troops  from  Khu- 
rasan.— iii.  299. 

A.  D.  1075.  The  Jacobite  Church  in  Takrit 
robbed  by  the  Turks. — iii.  303. 

The  churches  of  Takrit  destroyed  by  mobs 
and  the  Christians  of  the  place  scattered. — iii. 
309.  About  twenty  years  later  they  returned 
and  an  Armenian  was  appointed  governor  of  the 
place. — iii.  317. 

During  the  twelfth  century  devastations  by 
Kurds  in  the  region  of  Mosul,  a  Jacobite  bishop 
killed  in  his  cell,  churches  and  monasteries  de- 


246     ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

stroyed,  and  in  the  mountains  four  hundred 
Nestorian  villages  ravaged. — iii.  361,  363ff. 

A.  D.  1 21 5.  Mobs  in  Takrit  stopped  only  by 
the  payment  by  the  Christians  of  20,000  gold 
dinars. — iii.  391. 

A.  D.  1 231.  The  Kurds  of  Tur  Abdin  rav- 
aged the  Christian  villages  of  the  region  and  the 
Jacobite  Maphriana  killed  in  an  attack. — iii.  405. 

Of  course  these  incidents  are  scattered  over  a 
very  long  period,  but  they  are  doubtless  typical 
of  what  were  not  infrequent  occurrences. 

In  his  Syriac  Chronicle  Bar  Hebraeus  gives  the 
following  additional  instances  of  mobs. 

C.  885.  The  Monastery  in  Baghdad  sacked, 
also  new  additions  to  church  in  Tarsus. — p.  164. 

C.  920.  Mobs  sacked  residence  of  Abdullah, 
a  Christian  physician  and  of  Christian  lawyers. — 

p.  174- 

C.  971.  Two  Arabs  were  killed  near  a  Nes- 
torian monastery  in  Mosul  and  the  Christians 
escaped  only  by  the  payment  of  120,000  dirhams. 
—p.  192. 


APPENDIX  VII 

BRIBERY  AND  OTHER  EVIDENCES  OF  WEALTH 
OF  THE  CHRISTIANS 

The  following  instances  are  from  Bar  Hebraeus' 
Ecclesiastical  Chronicle. 

Ishuyabh  III.,  Nestorian  patriarch  647-657,  is 
said  to  have  resorted  to  bribing  the  Arab  author- 
ities in  order  to  prevent  the  Jacobites  building  a 
church  in  Mosul. — iii.  127. 

John,  Jacobite  patriarch  (a.  d.  744),  is  said  to 
have  taken  fifty  camel-loads  of  presents  to  Mar- 
wan. — i.  307. 

John  bar  Bukhtishu,  Nestorian  bishop  of 
Mosul  (C.  A.  D.  900),  used  to  go  about  his  diocese 
in  great  state  with  a  crowd  of  Greek  and  Nubian 
servants  in  livery  fit  for  a  king  and  with  a  train 
of  baggage  that  required  six  camels,  besides  a 
number  of  mules. — iii.  233. 

About  the  same  time  the  Nestorian  patriarch 
spent  30,000  dinars  in  accomplishing  the  expul- 
sion from  Baghdad  of  the  patriarchs  and  metro- 
politans of  the  other  sects. — iii.  237. 
247 


248     ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

Abraham,  Nestorian  patriarch  (C.  A.  d.  912), 
said  to  have  received  100,000  dirhams  for  the 
ordination  of  a  bishop  of  Baghdad,  100,000  for 
the  ordination  of  one  of  Mosul,  and  700,000  for 
the  ordination  of  one  of  Nisibis. — iii.  241. 

Ishuyabh,  Nestorian  patriarch  (C.  a.  d.  1190), 
secured  his  place  by  a  bribe  of  5,000  dinars  (iii. 
285),  and  Yahbhalaha  by  one  of  7,000  dinars 
(iii.  371),  and  his  successor  Saurishu  by  a  like 
sum. — iii.  370. 

The  Jacobite  Maphriana  of  Mosul  (C.  a.  d 
1 189)  paid  3,000  dinars  in  order  to  be  recognized 
by  the  governor  of  Mosul  and  permitted  to  enter 
that  city. — iii.  381. 

A  bribe  of  6,000  dinars  was  promised  the 
prince  of  Amid  in  behalf  of  a  candidate  for  the 
Jacobite  patriarchate,  but  the  intrigue  was  frus- 
trated by  the  Metropolitan  of  Amid. — ii.  609. 

During  a  long  continued  rivalry  and  schism  in 
the  Jacobite  Church  (a.  d.  1252-1261)  bribes 
were  paid  to  the  Franks,  the  Seljuk  Sultan,  and 
the  Mongols  in  behalf  of  both  candidates. — ii. 
709-727,  733ff. 


APPENDIX  VIII 

APOSTATES  FROM  CHRISTIANITY  TO  ISLAM 

When  Mansur  imprisoned  the  three  Christian 
patriarchs  (above  p.  152)  many  Christians  became 
Muslim. — Assemani,  De  CatJiolicis,  67-69. 

Mahdi,  being  angered,  brought  force  to  bear  on 
the  Christians  of  Aleppo  and  5,000  apostatized. 
(Above  p.  152). — Bar  Hebraeus,  Syr.  Chrou.,  127. 

C.  A.  D.  780.  Joseph,  bishop  of  Merv,  an  unsuc- 
cessful aspirant  to  the  Nestorian  patriarchate  was 
persuaded  by  the  Khalifa  Mahdi  to  embrace 
Islam,  but  he  later  fled  to  Roman  territory,  no 
doubt  to  escape  Islam. — Assemani,  De  CatJiolicis, 
7"/,  B.  O.  iii. :  i,  160;   Thomas  of  Marga,  ii.  383. 

Bar  Hebraeus  states  that  the  cause  of  his 
apostasy  was  the  charge  of  sodomy. — Ec.  Chron., 
iii.  171. 

C.  A.  D.  798.  A  general  apostasy  to  Islam  in 
the  region  of  Aleppo. — Ec.  Chron.,  i.  335. 

C.  900.     Theodore,  Nestorian  bishop  of  Beth 

Garmai,  deposed  for  immorality,  later  caught  in 

adultery  with  an  Arab  woman,  became  Muslim. 

— Ec.  Chro?i.,  iii.  227f. 

249 


250    ISLAM  AND   THE  ORIENTAL   CHURCHES 

C.  840.  It  was  proven  that  Enoch,  a  disciple 
and  protege  of  the  Nestorian  patriarch  Abraham 
II  had  at  one  time  apostatized  to  Islam.  He  was 
freed  from  annoyance  only  by  the  payment  of  a 
large  sum  of  money  to  the  government  and  had 
to  give  up  his  ecclesiastical  offices. — Assemani, 
De  Catholicis,  94,  B.  O.  iii. :  i,  508. 
'  A.  D.  962.  Gabriel,  Metropolitan  of  Persia, 
failed  to  be  elected  Nestorian  patriarch  because 
of  the  apostasy  of  his  brother  to  Islam. — B.  O., 
iii. :  I,  199. 

A.  D.  962.  Philoxenus,  Jacobite  Bishop  of 
Azerbaijan,  became  Muslim  because  of  immo- 
rality.— Bar  Hebraeus,  iii. :  i,  247. 

C.  A.  D.  1050.  Ignatius,  the  Jacobite  Maphri- 
ana,  being  convicted  of  adultery,  apostatized  to 
Islam.  Later  he  was  reduced  to  poverty  and  be- 
came a  beggar.  He  left  behind  him  a  penitential 
hymn. — Bar  Hebraeus,  Ec.  Chron.,  iii.  287f. 

C.  A.  D.  1080.  Cyzicus,  the  Jacobite  bishop  of 
Amid,  became  Muslim. — Bar  Hebraeus,  Ec. 
Chron.,  i.  453. 

C.  A.  D.  1 155.  Aaron,  Jacobite  bishop  of 
Khdetha,  became  Muslim,  having  been  caught  in 
adultery.  His  after  life  was  checkered.  Became 
Christian  again  and  wandered  in  various  places 


APPENDIX   VIII  251 

and  joined  various  sects. — Bar  Hebraeus,  Ec. 
Chron.,  ii.  Si/f. 

C.  A.  D.  1252.  David,  Jacobite  bishop  of 
Khabur,  failing  in  his  ecclesiastical  ambitions, 
accepted  Islam. — Ec.  Chron.,  ii.  711. 

C.  A.  D.  15 17.  The  Jacobite  patriarch  became 
Muslim,  afterwards  repented  and  went  to  Cyprus, 
where  he  resumed  the  patriarchal  office. — Ec. 
Chron.,  ii.  847. 

C.  A.  D.  1560.  The  Jacobite  patriarch  became 
Muslim,  repented  of  it,  and  finally  went  to  Rome. 
— Ec.  Chron.,  ii.  848. 


APPENDIX  IX 

CHRISTIAN  APOLOGETICS 

I  have  found  the  following  references  to  such 
writings :  John  of  Damascus  and  Theodore 
Abuqara,  Von  Kremer,  Culturgeschichte,  ii. 
402. 

Abraham,  a  monk  of  Beth  Khale  (C.  a.  d. 
670)  is  mentioned  in  the  catalogue  of  Audishu 
as  having  written  a  treatise  against  the  Arabs. — 
B.  O.,  iii. :   i,  205. 

C.  800.  Abu  Nuh  wrote  a  work  on  the 
Quran. — B.  O.,  iii. :  1,212. 

C.  820.  The  Nestorian  patriarch  Timothy- 
left  a  work  of  debates  with  the  Khalifas. — B.  O., 
iii.:   I,  162. 

Elijah  of  Nisibis  (eleventh  century)  wrote  a 
disputation  with  Abulkasim  on  the  subject  of  re- 
ligion.— B.  O,,  iii.:   i,  270. 

Another  anonymous  tract  against  Muslims, 
Jews,  Jacobites,  and  Melchites  is  mentioned. — B. 
O.,  iii.:   I,  303. 

C.  A.  D.  1 171.  Dionysius  Bar  Slibhi  wrote  a 
252 


APPENDIX  IX  253 

tract  against  Arabs,  Jews,  Nestorians,  Chalcedo- 
nians,  and  Armenians. — Bar  Hebraeus,  Ec.  Chroii., 
ii.  562,  n.  I,  B.  O.,  ii.  2io. 


VUABJA. 


ADJACENT  COUNTRIES 

about   700  A.D. 
WITH  Mais  TBIDE  BOIITKS 


BP172.S54 

Islam  and  the  oriental  churches,  their 

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